Harry Potter and the White Phoenix
by Almost Anonymous
Summary: The old legends of the White Phoenix surface and come alive as Harry makes his way through his fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts. HarryHermione.
1. Hermione's Secret

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

Author's notes: Finally I get the first chapter of this story out! I actually finished writing the first version of this story around mid-December, and back then I was hoping to get the first chapter edited and posted here on fanfiction net in a couple of days. When I read through the first version, though, I noticed that I had forgotten some things from the story and then there were also some other things that required quite a lot of editing and fixing to work out, and in the end it took me almost a month until I was satisfied enough with this story to start the final edit to smooth out the minor glitches and to fix the language.

There are still some things later on in this story that need some major work, but I'm quite hopeful that I can still post new chapters at a decent speed, and I'm actually aiming for posting about two chapters a week, each chapter being around five to eight thousand words in length, but time will tell whether I succeed in that goal or not.

As you can see, this is an alternate universe fic, which starts in the middle of Harry's fourth year, and pretty much all of the later canon (including the Prophecy) will be disregarded. This story continues on to Harry's fifth year and I have decided not to split it up to separate parts, but instead this will continue through the summer and on to the next year as a single story. I'm not sure about how long the whole thing is going to be, as I'm still doing some quite major editing and I'm not exactly sure where to end the story, but currently it stands at about 115,000 words.

I guess I should also note that English isn't my native language and there are bound to be some errors in this, although I have done a lot of work on the language and I hope that there aren't any major screw-ups with it, and I apologize for all the errors.

There will be romance later in this story and the pairing will be Harry/Hermione, so if that pairing offends you, I suggest you not to read this. But without further ado, here it is:

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 1 – Hermione's Secret**

_They went up to the Owlery. Hermione gave Harry a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink, then strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls, while Harry sat down against a wall and wrote his letter. – _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands.

After Harry had sent the letter to Sirius, Hermione cleared her throat to get his attention.

"There was something else I wanted to talk you about," she started. "You know the other Champions are older than you, and the tasks have been planned for students at least seventeen years old, so I thought that you should study ahead to prepare for the tasks. Of course it won't be possible to study everything up to the NEWT level, but if we concentrated on things that would help the most in the tournament, it would make a huge difference, I think," she rambled.

Harry wasn't very willing to do any extra studying, but he couldn't deny that she had a point there and he couldn't help sighing wearily, knowing that she was right.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he said to her, although a bit hesitantly, and she seemed to be delighted to hear that, judging by her expression.

"I already asked Professor McGonagall and she said that we could use her classroom when it's not occupied. It would really help us if we knew what the tasks are going to be like, but I guess we just have to concentrate on things that would help in many different situations. I have already made a list of some spells that you should learn, you know, things like the Stunning Spell, which will help to stop many of the magical creatures you might have to face, or the Shield Charm, which obviously helps to protect you from spells and other things that might harm you," she said enthusiastically. "We could start right now if that's OK with you?" she asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment and he realized that he didn't really have anything else to do at the moment, with Ron being a prat and ignoring him. "Yeah, I guess," he said.

"Come on then," Hermione said and she left the Owlery with Harry following her.

"There's something else that I think you could use in the Tournament, something that even the other champions probably can't do," she said quietly and secretively as they walked towards the Transfiguration classroom.

"Yeah?" he asked with some interest. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he thought that it might be something useful, though he was also sceptical about being able to learn something that a seventh year couldn't do.

"I'll tell you when we get there," she whispered to him and he wondered if it was something against the rules, because she was being so secretive, although Hermione probably wouldn't teach him anything that was against the rules. Unless it was something that might safe his life in the Tournament, another part of his mind added.

On their way, they saw a few students from the other Houses, and judging by their expressions, as they saw Harry, they didn't like Harry being in the Tournament, though None of them said anything. Hermione still gave him a sympathetic look as they walked towards the Transfiguration classroom. When they were inside the classroom, Hermione closed the door carefully, and she took a breath before starting to speak.

"I guess I should start from the beginning," she started a bit nervously. "You remember Ron's broken wand from the second year?" Here she waited for his nod before continuing. "That got me thinking that most witches and wizards are helpless if they lose or break their wand, and I started looking for books about wandless magic – it was mentioned in our first year that wands weren't really necessary, they just made focusing magic much easier. I only found several books that mentioned some famous wizards and witches that were able to do wandless magic, but none of the books actually taught how to do it – they only told that it's really difficult and takes a lot of time to learn decently, and thus very few actually bother learning it. But I still wanted to learn, and I decided to try and do it on my own with some pointers I got from a book that taught silent spell casting. It took me a lot of effort and months of time, but I was able to learn to cast a spell – the Levitation Charm – without a wand and after that it got easier to start learning other spells too, now that I knew how to do it," she told him, speaking rapidly.

Harry needed a bit of time to process all that she had said, and he still wasn't sure he had understood her. "So you can... cast spells without a wand?" he asked.

"Well, that's what I said. Only a few spells, though and I need to concentrate on it very intently," she said and lapsed to a short thoughtful silence.

"Here, look," she said and she put her wand down on one of the desks and took a step away from it, before closing her eyes. She relaxed her arms at her sides and took few deep breaths, before opening her eyes eyes again, and now she was looking intently at the wand on the table. She lifted her right arm in front of her, with her hand open and fingers relaxed, and her brows furrowed in concentration. Slowly she lifted her hand up and Harry was surprised to see the wand on the desk starting to rise up and levitate in the air!

After the wand was at the level of her head, she stopped and seemed to be concentrating even harder. Her lips moved, as she muttered something under her breath, and she flexed the fingers of her right hand. The wand sailed through the air towards her and she caught it with her right hand. Then she looked back at Harry, and when she saw him staring at her, mouth agape in surprise, she couldn't help blushing a bit at his stare.

"Of course, that wasn't a real Summoning Charm – I haven't learned to do that wandless yet – just a modified Levitation Charm that moved the wand towards me," she said quickly and, as he still seemed to be at a loss of words, she continued speaking. "As I said I can only do few spells, and I need to concentrate a lot, so it's not really useful with everyday magic, but it could help you if you lose your wand or something like that," she said.

Harry seemed to finally recover from his surprise. "You can do wandless magic?" he blurted. "But how? When did you have time to learn that?" he asked.

"Uhm, well, like I said, I started our second year and I continued through last year. You know, that's one of the reasons I was so overworked last year, and I really couldn't have done it without the time turner and still go to all of the classes. I just spent some time almost every day to practice and, well, that's it," she said.

"Do you really think I could learn that? If it took you more than a _year_, then how am I supposed to learn it in just a month?" he asked sceptically.

"Well, yes, I think you could. I had no one to teach me and it took me a long time to figure out how to do it and, especially, how to practice it. I think you could learn a couple of spells by Christmas – not for the first task, but there is still the second and the third task," she told him and she was looking quite enthusiastic about it.

Harry wasn't convinced, though. "Are you sure I can do that? I mean, Why aren't more people able to do wandless magic if it isn't more difficult than that?" he asked.

"As I said, it takes a very long time to learn enough spells for it to be of any use. You know, everyone could, for example, learn half a dozen languages if they just studied hard and long enough! Most people simply don't bother with wandless magic because they think that it takes too long to become any good at it, several years actually. But _you_ would only need to learn a few useful spells, like the Summoning Charm to summon your wand if you lose it," she explained.

He thought about it for a moment and he couldn't help thinking that wandless magic was something too difficult for him to learn. But still it wouldn't hurt to try and it would be incredibly useful in some situations, if he did manage to learn it.

"OK, I'll try," he said. "But if I don't manage anything by, say, the first task, then we'll use the time for studying something else," he told her.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and he thought that she was going to object, but then her expression changed and she nodded her acceptance. "That's fine with me," she said. "Do you want to start practising right now?" she asked.

He wasn't looking exactly thrilled about it and he didn't answer her verbally, but he did sit down and he looked at her expectantly.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she started to speak again and this time she was using her lecture voice. "As you know, wands are only used to make focusing magic easier, while the actual magic comes from your own body. The wand, kind of, collects the magic that flows out of you and forms it to the spell you want to cast. In wandless magic you, obviously, need to focus the magic and form the spell by yourself, without a wand, using just the natural ability to alter magic that every witch and wizard possesses. That's the difficult thing that takes so much practise, though once you learn it decently, it should become quite easy, although you will still need a lot of concentration," she explained and then lapsed in to short silence to think about something. She looked around and saw a worn quill on one of the desks. She went to get it and returned with the quill, setting it down on a desk in front of him.

"Right, I think we should start with silent spellcasting and some simple spell. Casting a spell without an incantation takes a lot more effort and requires you to focus more of your magic consciously and because of that, it is quite a lot more difficult than normal spellcasting with an incantation, but it should make the leap to wandless magic smaller," she told him. "Let's start with the Levitation Charm on this quill, as it's a very simple Charm and I don't think you should have any trouble with learning to cast it without the incantation with some practise, and later without your wand," she told him and he nodded in understanding and acceptance.

"OK, here's what you should do: first do the Charm, say, five times with the incantation to get a feeling of the magic for the Charm and then on the sixth try, do it without the incantation, with just the wand movement," she instructed him. "You can think about the incantation in your head on the sixth try, but don't say it aloud," she added as an afterthought.

Harry stood up and, feeling a bit foolish, he lifted his wand and did the Levitation Charm – "Wingardium Leviosa" – five times on the quill, each time letting the quill levitate just a few inches up from the table, before letting it fall back. On the sixth try he did the swish and flick motion with his wand but didn't say anything. Nothing happened and Harry turned to look at Hermione with a questioning look.

"That's OK, Harry, it will take some time and practise," Hermione encouraged him. "Just try it again, but this time take a deep breath first and try to concentrate only on the thought of levitating the quill," she added.

Harry did as she told him to do and then tried it again but still the result was the same; nothing happened on the sixth try when he tried it silently. Hermione encouraged him to try again several times, and told him to try to concentrate fully on thinking about levitating the quill, and trying to feel the magic flow out of him when he did the spell normally. After he had repeated the exercise about twenty times, without any visible improvement, he started feeling frustrated.

"I don't think I can do this. I can't feel anything special when I cast the spell," he complained.

Hermione thought about it for a second, and she almost jumped when she realized something. "Try putting more power to the spell!" she blurted. "Try making the quill levitate up as fast as you can on each try and _then_ try it silently. Putting more power on the spell should help you to get a better feeling of the spell," she told him.

He did as she told and concentrated on the thought of levitating the quill, before casting the spell once again, and this time he pushed as much of his magical power on the spell as he could. The quill quickly jerked a couple of feet up in the air and when Harry released the spell, the quill started floating down slowly.

"Oh," she said, realizing that the quill wasn't the best thing to practise on, and she looked around for something better. She noticed a bookshelf that had several worn books in it and she went to the shelf and took the most worn looking book she found.

"Try levitating this book, it's much heavier than the quill and you should be able to push more magic on levitating it. Then try it on the quill silently," she said as she put the book down on the desk, next to the quill. "But float the book down gently!" she added before he had the time to try it again.

This time he had to put more effort on the Levitation Charm, just to get the book to rise from the desk, but even the book jumped up quickly when he pushed all the magical power he could on the spell. After he had levitated the book five times he tried it silently on the quill, and this time the quill jerked.

"Did you see that, Harry?" Hermione said excitedly. "Try it again!" she urged him.

Harry repeated the spell five times on the book again and then tried it on the quill silently and it jerked again. He tried it several times more and each time the quill moved just a bit, sometimes more, sometimes less, although it didn't really levitate in the air. With Hermione's encouragement, he did the exercise for plenty of times, but he didn't improve any further from random jerks and soon Harry started getting frustrated again.

"I think that's enough for now," Hermione told him, when she noticed his frustration. "We can continue tomorrow," she added, when she realized that they had been at it for more than an hour already.

Harry sat down on a chair, relaxed, and closed his eyes – the constant spellcasting had him feeling a bit tired. After a moment he opened his eyes again and looked at Hermione, who had sat down too. The practising had distracted his thoughts, but now that he wasn't doing anything, Harry was reminded of Ron and what Hermione had said earlier that day about Ron being jealous about him getting all the fame. Thinking about that immediately sunk Harry's mood and he really wanted to push Ron out of his mind until Ron would grow up.

"That wasn't so bad after all. I don't think I mind doing this until Christmas, knowing that it will help me with the Tournament," Harry said to Hermione and he really meant it – spending some time each day to make sure that he didn't make a fool of himself in the Tournament wasn't that bad. "If I continue to improve, that is," he added and seemed a bit sullen.

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Hermione encouraged. "It just takes a lot of practise but gets easier after you learn your first wandless spell," she said and lapsed in to a short silence. "So, do you think you're ready to continue?" she asked.

"Continue?" he said dumbly. "I thought we were finished for the day?" he asked.

"For the wandless magic, yes, but you should really learn some new spells too. I thought that we could start with the Shield Charm today," she told him.

Harry groaned. It seemed that Hermione was pushing him for quite a full schedule of studying, and he realized that he should have expected this – she was Hermione after all. He hated the voice in his head that told him that she was right and that it would make sense to study all he could; it might actually save his life on one of the tasks.

"Let me just sit and rest for a few minutes and then we can continue," Harry said and Hermione didn't protest.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, just letting his mind rest, trying to push everything unpleasant out of his mind for a while and instead his thoughts strayed to wandless magic and all the possibilities it held. He thought that it would be really cool to be able to do wandless magic, especially as almost no one else seemed to be able to do it – if only it didn't take so much effort to learn. He also thought about Hermione learning it on her own and there were a few things that puzzled him about Hermione's story, when he thought about it more closely.

"Hermione?" he asked, getting her attention. "When did you have time to practise wandless magic and why didn't you tell us about it?" he asked puzzled.

"Well, I didn't want to tell you anything before I could actually do it and then, I guess, I just never got around to telling you about it and I wasn't even sure that you would be interested in it, because it was basically extra studying," she said to him normally, but then she smiled before continuing. "When do you think I practised? Where did I spent a lot of time where you didn't usually follow me?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Harry thought about it for a moment and he realized quite soon what she meant. "The library!" he said and she nodded. "So, instead of going to the library you went somewhere to practise wandless magic?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's what I did quite often," she answered a bit sheepish.

They lapsed into a silence again, and after a moment things that Harry didn't want to think about started circling around in his mind again; thoughts about the Goblet thing, Ron, and the whole Tournament. He tried to push those thoughts out of his mind and, instead, tried to think about things that he enjoyed – like Quidditch and flying. But that only made him miss those things even more and did nothing to improve his mood.

"OK, I'm ready," he said, when he realized that the studying would at least distract him from all the unpleasant thoughts for a moment.

She then started to eagerly teach him the Shield Charm – or "Protego" Charm as it was called by its incantation. Hermione herself couldn't actually do the charm yet, though she knew the wand movement and the incantation, and she learned it quite quickly while they both practised it, though her shield did look rather weak. That was proven when Hermione asked Harry to shoot some weak jinx at the shield to test its strength and Harry's Jelly-Legs Jinx passed right through the shield, almost hitting Hermione. They continued with the Shield Charm for a long time, and during that time Harry didn't manage more than just a wisp of smoke that didn't look anything like the Shield Charm was supposed to look like, and the smoke also vanished almost immediately.

After they finished studying for the day, it was already dinner time, but Harry didn't feel like eating. He was hungry of course, not having eaten anything since the morning, but he wanted to delay meeting the rest of the school for as long as possible. So, when Hermione left for the Great Hall to have dinner, Harry returned to the Gryffindor tower and, to his dismay, he realized that he still had most of his normal school work to do.

Harry felt really grateful for Hermione when she brought him a bit of food from the Great Hall, and even more so, when she also helped him with his homework. After he had finished working with most pressing of his assignments, it wasn't very late yet, but he still felt quite tired and he decided to retire to his dormitory and go to sleep early.

For some time, perhaps a quarter of an hour, Harry spent just lying there on his four-poster bed, trying to relax before going to sleep, and he tried in vain not to think about the Tournament or the fact that everyone, including Ron, seemed to think that he had entered himself in the Tournament. It was useless, however, and the thoughts kept popping up in his mind, so he decided that he might as well go to sleep. As he changed to his pyjamas and got under the blanket, he really hoped that the next days were going to be better.

* * *

The next morning it was Monday already and Harry couldn't avoid the rest of the school any more. At the breakfast it was clear that most of the students didn't like Harry being in the Tournament, with the Gryffindors being the most notable exception. The Slytherins, of course, didn't need a reason to hate Harry whenever he got fame and recognition, but the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws had usually been in good terms with the Gryffindors. Now, the Hufflepuffs apparently felt that Harry had stolen the limelight from their House by being chosen as another Hogwarts Champion, and it was quite understandable as their House seldom got much attention. The Ravenclaws had always been closest to the Hufflepuffs and most of them seemed to side with them, disliking Harry for being in the Tournament. 

The Gryffindors, on the other hand, treated Harry like some kind of a hero for outsmarting the Goblet and getting himself to the Tournament, with the exception of Ron and Hermione, and Harry wasn't very fond of that kind of attention either. Ron still wasn't talking with Harry and it seemed that Hermione was the only one that actually believed in him, and she was the only one that treated him normally. As if that wasn't enough, Hermione's prediction proved to be a correct one and the Prophet had a large article about the Tournament and it especially mentioned that, despite his young age, Harry Potter was one of the Champions. With all that, Harry was feeling quite miserable from the very beginning of the day.

It didn't get any better later that day. They had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and it seemed that even Professor Sprout – the head of Hufflepuff, who was usually very fair with everyone – had a grudge against Harry. The Care of Magical Creatures class they had with the Slytherin and Malfoy had expectedly tried to get a rise out of Harry. There was just one bright spot in the day, and that was when Harry learned that at least Hagrid believed that he hadn't entered himself in the Tournament.

When they were finished with the classes, Harry and Hermione again went to the Transfiguration classroom to practise for the Tournament. Harry was actually glad for that, because it got him away from all the other students, and it wasn't that bad to spend time with Hermione, even if they spent it by studying, when compared to being stared at by other students. This time Hermione did some homework, while Harry continued the same silent spellcasting exercises he had done the day before, though this time he really managed to do the Levitation Charm silently, and not just make the quill jerk.

After that Hermione instructed him to try doing it with less normal castings prior to the silent one, as the next step would be to learn to do the silent spell spontaneously without getting the feeling of the magic for the spell with normal, non-silent castings of it. He managed to drop down the number of normal castings he required to just two and he still managed to levitate the quill silently on the third try quite well, although the quill did wobble a bit. He was feeling quite optimistic that in a few days he might be able to cast the spell silently without any prior normal castings of it and Hermione shared his sentiment.

After that they also continued practising the Shield Charm – Hermione too practised that, as she wasn't satisfied with her own shield yet – and this time Harry managed a weak shield, while Hermione's shield was getting stronger each time she tried it. This time, when Harry cast some weak jinxes to test her shield, she was quite satisfied to see that her Shield Charm could now hold against a weak jinx or two.

Harry's homework was, again, left to be done after the extra study with Hermione, and by the time he was finished with the most of their homework assignments – leaving the ones that weren't urgent for a later day – he was already feeling pretty exhausted. Still, he didn't want to go to bed yet, but instead he wanted to have some time off of everything. So, not being able to relax with Ron and play chess, or something like that, he decided to just sit in the front of the fire for a moment. He couldn't help thinking about how miserable he was feeling about everything that was happening, and it actually reminded him of his second year, when almost everyone had thought that he was the Heir of Slytherin; but this time it was even worse, as now even Ron wasn't there to support him, and it seemed that Hermione was the only one of the students that actually treated him decently. He sighed wearily and apparently that was heard by Hermione, who sat down next to him, looking sympathetic.

"I wish there was something I could do," she said to him and he noticed that she wasn't looking very cheerful either – not that she ever was lively, but she seemed to be somewhat down too.

Harry felt somewhat guilty, because he was quite sure that she was down because of him. "It's not your fault," he said, wanting to lift her spirits. "And you _are_ helping me. You are the only one that believes me, and besides you are helping me practise. I wouldn't know what to practise for the Tournament myself and probably wouldn't have started doing anything before it was too late, anyway," he continued earnestly and she seemed to brighten just a bit. "I just wish it wasn't always me," he added darkly.

She seemed to be at a loss of words and just patted him on the shoulder in an act of comfort. They sat there in silence for some time, until Harry started feeling really tired – not physically, but mentally – and he decided to retire to his dormitory. Still, despite the tiredness, sleep didn't come easily for him with so much running through his head and he twisted and turned in his bed for a long time before finally falling asleep.

* * *

It didn't get any better for Harry during the rest of the week, either; the classes were quite awful and every day after the classes he spent a few hours with Hermione for extra study before doing his homework and he was starting to tire of it all pretty quickly. By Friday morning Harry was feeling totally worn out and the prospect of double Potions class that day just darkened his moods considerably. 

He somehow managed to get through the day until the Potions class, but just as they were waiting for the class to begin, Malfoy had to show up wearing a badge that read "Support CEDRIC DIGGORY – the REAL Hogwarts Champion!" and of course he had to start insulting Harry even further. Harry managed to control himself, even when Malfoy's badge had flashed "POTTER STINKS", but when Malfoy had started insulting Hermione too, it was the last straw for him and all the frustration and anger he had felt during the week finally broke out of his control. Angrily, he fired a spell at Malfoy, but Malfoy was too quick for him and responded with a spell of his own. Their spells hit each other mid-air and were reflected off to random directions; Harry's curse hit Goyle in the face, while Malfoy's curse hit Hermione and her teeth started growing rapidly.

Of course, Snape happened to arrive just at that moment and it was no surprise that he was his normal biased and vindictive self. He ordered Goyle to go to the Hospital Wing, who was now spouting ugly boils in his face, but he just insulted Hermione, whose front teeth had already grown below her chin.

Hermione ran away with tears in her eyes and Ron started shouting insults at Snape, while Harry was seething inside and tried to refrain from doing something _really_ stupid. He didn't really hear Snape giving Ron a detention for insulting a teacher, nor did he hear Snape urging them all inside, as he tried to regain the control of his anger. Harry was certain that he'd explode if he had to endure a double class with Snape and so he simply walked away from there. He could hear Snape calling after him, as he stormed off, but he didn't pay any attention to Snape's words, though he did hear the word "detention". At that moment Harry didn't really care one bit if he was in detention for the rest of his life – he just had to get away from it all.

Harry didn't know where he was going to, but soon he found himself in the Entrance Hall and he decided to head outside. He walked towards the lake and when he got there, he released his temper on a stone on the shore, kicking it angrily to the lake. Luckily it wasn't a big stone and he didn't really injure his foot, though it did hurt – but at least the pain helped him to regain some control of his temper. After about fifteen minutes of walking around and cooling down, Harry was feeling calm enough to realize that he was certainly in trouble for his actions, and that he had probably gained at least a week of detention from Snape – he would be expelled if Snape got his way, but Harry was quite certain that that wouldn't happen.

There was no point in going back to the Potions class, because it wouldn't change Snape's punishment in any way – and actually it just might make it worse if Harry did show up there. So, he decided to head for the Hospital Wing instead and see if Hermione was there and if she was okay. All the students were in their classes at the moment, and Harry didn't meet anyone on his way to the Hospital Wing, but when he got there, he saw that Hermione was indeed there and now her teeth also seemed to be back to their normal size.

"You all right, Hermione?" he asked her, when he was close enough that she noticed him.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," she replied and smiled at him. Harry was suddenly struck with a thought that she now looked somehow different, especially as she smiled. Her smile quickly changed to surprise, however, when she realized who it was talking to her.

"Harry? Why aren't you in Potions?" she asked him.

"Oh, I, um... I walked out of there," he said, not looking at her.

"In the middle of the class? Harry, you shouldn't have done that!" she reprimanded him, clearly disapproving his actions.

"No, I um... I left before the class even begun. I think I got detention for it, too," he admitted.

"Oh, Harry..." she said sadly, but she didn't reprimand him any further and actually she seemed sympathetic.

"I know, I shouldn't have done it, but I just... I had to get away from it, or I would have exploded," he said and sat down on a chair close to her. "So, you really OK?" he asked her again, wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, I am. It took Madam Pomfrey just a minute to shrink my teeth back to normal. I just... didn't feel like going back there," she said looking down.

"Yeah, neither did I really," he admitted and they lapsed in to a silence that was soon interrupted by a breathless Colin Creevey hurrying through the doors to the Hospital Wing. He seemed delighted when he noticed that Harry was there.

"Harry ... you're needed ... upstairs, there's a ... photoshoot ... for the champions!" Colin told him breathless. He was clearly excited about it all and had a bright smile on his face.

"Oh. Well, see you later, Hermione," Harry said to Hermione as he stood up.

"See you," Hermione replied and Harry left, following the excited Colin Creevey.

Harry was rather glad that Colin was out of breath, and needed a few moments to regain his breath, before he started talking and asking Harry questions about the Tournament and everything. Fortunately for Harry, just in a moment they were in front of a classroom where he was apparently supposed to go.

Harry knocked on the door and it was opened immediately. He was quickly ushered in and he saw that it was a rather small classroom with several people already there. The three other Champions were present and so were Ludo Bagman, Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, Professor Karkaroff and Mr. Crouch. To Harry's surprise, Mr. Ollivander, who had sold Harry his wand over three years ago, was also there, and then there were also two others that Harry didn't know; one of them was clearly a photographer and the other was a witch in magenta robes.

Ludo Bagman told that they were in here for the Wand Weighing – a traditional Triwizard Tournament ceremony where the Champions' wands would be checked that they worked perfectly for the Tournament – and there would also be a photoshoot for the Champions. The witch in magenta robes – or Rita Skeeter, as she introduced herself – was a journalist for the Prophet and she wanted an interview with Harry, but luckily Harry was saved from it when Ludo Bagman stepped in and told that they would begin the Wand Weighing ceremony immediately, as they were already running a bit late.

All the Champions' wands were checked by Mr. Ollivander with all the judges of the Triwizard Tournament present and everyone's wand seemed to be in good enough condition. After that they had a short photoshoot; they were photographed together and separately and to Harry's dismay, the photographer (and especially the Skeeter journalist) seemed to have a specific interest in him. After the photoshoot, the Champions were dismissed for dinner, but Rita Skeeter seemed to be interested in talking with Harry. This time he was saved by Dumbledore, however, before she even had time to ask him again for an interview.

"Harry, could I have a word with you?" Dumbledore asked him and Harry saw that Rita Skeeter was looking rather sour.

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied a bit nervously – he was quite sure what this was about.

He followed Dumbledore out of the classroom and inside another one. This one was empty and judging by the dust everywhere, it hadn't been used for some time.

"Harry, I heard that you walked out of Professor Snape's class," Dumbledore started seriously.

"Yes, I did, sir," Harry replied abashed, not quite looking at the Headmaster.

"I'm sure that it's not easy with everything weighing down on you, Harry, but that doesn't excuse you to disrespect the teachers. Professor Snape gave you a week of detention and I'm afraid that he is rather correct in his punishment. Walking out of a class and skipping it without a good reason is a serious offence against the school rules," Dumbledore told him.

Harry had expected that and he wasn't the least bit surprised, but still he felt miserable at having to endure a week of detentions with Snape above everything else that was happening.

"However, in the current situation, I thought that spending a week in detention with Snape would be an unfair disadvantage to you, considering the Tournament," Dumbledore continued and Harry looked at him hopefully. "Now, I believe you have spent your evenings practising for the Tournament with Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Yes I have, sir," Harry replied, not knowing where Dumbledore was heading with his question.

"Ah, I thought so. I, of course, can not help you with that, but there is something else that wouldn't interfere with your training that much and would it would still be a proper punishment for breaking the rules. So, instead of having your detention with Snape, you are to report at my office, starting this evening, after dinner. You should bring your books and your homework assignments with you," Dumbledore told.

Harry felt immensely relieved, but also slightly nervous as he hadn't had detention with the Headmaster ever before. "Yes, sir," he replied.

Dumbledore didn't seem to have anything further to say and Harry decided that it was a good time to ask the Headmaster a question that had bothered him lately.

"Sir? Do you have any idea of who might have put my name in the Goblet?" Harry asked.

For just a moment Dumbledore looked tired and old, but then he collected himself and took an apologetic expression on his face. "I'm afraid that I still don't have any clear idea of who it might have been. But rest assured that I'm doing everything I can to find out the one responsible for that and meanwhile we're also taking measures to make certain that the tasks will be as safe for the Champions as possible," he said heavily and lapsed into a short silence. "Now, unless there is something else, I think you should head down for dinner," he added much more cheerfully.

Harry did as he was told and he hurried off to the Great Hall, wanting to avoid meeting the Skeeter woman if at all possible. When he got to the Great Hall, he noticed that Hermione and Ron were already there, sitting at the Gryffindor table. There was an empty seat on the other side of Hermione and he aimed for that seat and sat down to eat.

While eating, he told Hermione briefly about the Wand Weighing and the photoshoot – Ron pretended not to listen, but Harry was certain that Ron heard him. Harry also told her about the week of detention he had and she wasn't delighted to hear about that; it would mean less time to practise for the Tournament. She told him that Ron had also got detention for two nights with Snape and Harry didn't want to say about his detention being with Dumbledore, instead of Snape, in front of Ron.

Harry didn't have much of an appetite, as he was still a bit nervous about the impending detention and he ate only a little before saying a hasty "see you" to Hermione and heading towards the Headmaster's office. When he got there, the door was closed and he didn't know the password for the gargoyle that guarded the door to the office, so he leaned against a nearby wall to wait. He didn't have to wait for long before Dumbledore came from the direction of the Great Hall.

"Ah, Harry, you made it here before me," Dumbledore said to Harry jovially and then he turned to the stone gargoyle. "Lemon drop," he said the password to the gargoyle and the door sprang open, revealing the spiral staircase up to the Headmaster's office. He gestured for Harry to go in and Dumbledore followed behind him.

When they were both inside the office, Dumbledore led the way across the office, towards a small door and through the door to a smaller room. The only things in the room were a simple desk and few bookshelves, all full of books, and the room looked quite neglected. Harry looked around, wondering what the room was used for.

"This room was originally intended for the apprentice of the Headmaster, but it hasn't been used for that for a couple of centuries, as apprenticeships are quite rare these days," Dumbledore told Harry. "I mostly use this room to store books, but sometimes I also use this room when I don't feel like working in my office and want something simpler instead," Dumbledore added as an afterthought.

Dumbledore then took a roll of parchment from a pocket of his robe and offered it to Harry. "Here is the Potions assignment from Professor Snape that you were given today and which you are to do in today's detention. You should find most of the required information from your Potions book, but there is also a selection of reference books, should you need them, in that shelf," Dumbledore said and pointed to a bookshelf, where Harry noticed some Potions books that were familiar to him from the Hogwarts library. "You may do your work here and I'll come see you later," he added and left to his office.

Harry shuffled to the desk, sat down and took some parchment, quill, ink and his Potions book from his backpack. He read the assignment from Snape and sighed wearily; he was to write three feet about the antidotes to the most common poisons and it would take him easily two or even three hours to write that. Somewhat reluctantly he started working on the assignment.

It seemed to take him forever to check some of the most common poisons and then find the antidotes that helped against them and then make an essay out of the information, and when he was finally finished with it, he had only two and half feet of text. Not wanting to do any more research, as he felt that he had enough facts for the essay, he rewrote parts of the assignment and added some words or useless facts here and there, and he managed to get it to the required three feet without doing any major work. He had no notions of it being a essay worthy of an Outstanding but he was sure that it was good enough to pass, even with Snape's strict standards, and that was quite enough for him.

He reread the essay to make sure that there weren't any bigger mistakes in it and then he stretched a bit; sitting there hunched over the essay had him feeling achy and stiff. Checking his watch, he saw that it was just few minutes past half past seven and he had been there for about two and half hours. Dumbledore had been to the same room a couple of times; he had once taken a book from one of the several bookshelves and a few minutes later he had returned the book, looking thoughtful and Harry had briefly wondered what Dumbledore was doing, but then he had concentrated back on his essay.

After a few minutes of just sitting there, just when Harry was starting to feel restless and wondered if he should find Dumbledore and tell him that the he was finished with the Potions essay, Dumbledore appeared and noticed that Harry was looking rather relaxed.

"All finished, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, sir," Harry answered and sat straighter in the chair.

"Let me see," Dumbledore said and briefly looked at his essay, just glancing through it quickly, and he seemed satisfied. "Then you're free to go. See you tomorrow, after the dinner," he said.

"I will, sir," Harry replied.

Harry quickly gathered his stuff and returned a book he had used to check some things for the essay to the bookshelf, where he had taken it, and then he left. By the time he reached the Gryffindor tower it was a quarter to eight already. Ron was there in the common room playing exploding snap with Dean and Seamus, and he didn't notice Harry enter the room. Harry thought that Ron was looking quite sour, and despite Ron acting like a git, Harry couldn't help feeling some sympathy towards him for having his detentions with Snape. Harry also noticed Hermione, sitting on one of the couches, reading a book and he made his way towards her.

"Harry!" she said surprised, when he sat down next to her. "So, you're having your detentions with Dumbledore instead of Snape?" she asked when she recovered from her surprise.

"Yeah, I am. I just didn't want to tell it in front of Ron,," Harry said.

Hermione looked unhappy about something. "Yes, Ron told me that he is having his detentions with Snape, starting from tomorrow, and Snape had also told him that you would be having your detentions with the Headmaster instead. Ron didn't seem very happy about it," Hermione finished sympathetically.

Harry decided to ignore the information about Ron. "Dumbledore thought that it wasn't fair for me to be in detention for a week with Snape, not having as much time to train for the Tournament as the other Champions," Harry told her.

"So, what did you do in the detention? He didn't train you himself, did he? That wouldn't be fair, you know, because he's one of the judges and knows the tasks beforehand," she asked him.

"No, he had me doing homework. I had to make a three feet long assignment for _Snape_. I guess he makes me do my homework in the detentions, so that I would have time to practise for the Tournament at other times," Harry told her.

"So, you don't have any urgent homework left?" Hermione asked brightly. "That means that we still have some time before the curfew to practise!" she added and jumped up, but then she seemed to remember something. "Oh, you also had an owl and I took the letter from it. Wait a moment," she said and rummaged through her backpack. She produced a letter from inside the backpack and offered it to him.

Harry opened the letter eagerly, when he saw that it was from Sirius, and he read through it quickly, making sure that no one else besides Hermione was around to see the letter. Harry was excited to read that he'd have a change to talk face to face with Sirius in just two weeks. He'd have to stay up late and make sure that no one else was in the common room, but that wasn't a high price to pay for a change to talk with Sirius. Harry also felt a bit relieved to read that Sirius thought that he was safe in Hogwarts with Dumbledore and Professor Moody around, despite someone managing to put his name in the Goblet.

Harry decided to send a reply to Sirius right away. He told Hermione briefly about what Sirius had said, before writing a short reply, and then he left towards the Owlery with Hermione following him.

"Harry, we'd still have some time to practise," she reminded him as they walked out of the Gryffindor tower through the portrait hole.

"Fine, but I'm having at least tomorrow off," Harry replied and she didn't protest, even though she looked like she wasn't quite happy about it.

After he had sent the letter, they quickly made their way to the Transfiguration classroom and they still had an hour before the curfew. This time they spent all their time practising wandless magic and by the time they were finished – just in time to get back to the Gryffindor tower before curfew – Harry was already quite confident in casting the Levitation Charm silently and Hermione told him that on Sunday he could start practising the Charm without his wand. She also said that he was progressing really fast and that he might be able to do the Charm without a wand in just a week or two more of practising.

While they had practised, Harry was again reminded by the fact that Hermione had seemed to look somehow different that day in the Hospital Wing, and now he thought that there really was something different about her. As they walked towards the Gryffindor Tower, Harry finally decided to ask her about it.

"Hermione? You know, I've been wondering that you look somehow ... different," he said tentatively, not knowing how she would react to him talking about her looks.

"Oh, you have?" she asked smiling and Harry was, once again, struck by the feeling that she looked different. Thinking about it more closely, he realized that she had used to have quite big front teeth but now they looked smaller and they were average sized, actually.

"Your teeth!" he said when he realized it. "You shrunk your front teeth?" he asked.

"Of course I did. You thought I would have wanted to keep those fangs from that curse?" she asked him.

"No, I didn't mean that," he replied. "I meant that, erm, your teeth are smaller than they used to be, not that there was anything wrong with them before," he said, being a bit afraid of offending her.

Instead of being offended, she smiled. "When I went to the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey started to shrink my teeth, she told me to tell her when they were the right size and I let her shrunk them a bit smaller than what they used to be," she told him.

"Oh, well, they look nice," Harry blurted before he caught himself and he felt foolish immediately after saying it. It was what he had thought, but he hadn't meant to say it aloud and he really thought that he was getting too comfortable with Hermione, spending so much time with her. He felt the need to say something else, to correct himself, but he couldn't come up with anything quickly.

He was spared from having to say anything, though when Hermione smiled at him. "Thanks," she said and they continued walking towards the Gryffindor tower in silence.

When they got there, Harry noticed that Ron was still there, just sitting, doing nothing, and he was looking just as sour as he had been before. Ron's expression seemed to go even sourer when he noticed Harry entering the Common Room and he stood up and made his way up to the boys dormitory. Harry sighed wearily and sat down on one of the couches in the room.

"He'll come around," Hermione said to him, sitting next to him, but Harry wasn't so sure. Hermione got the same book she had been reading earlier and continued reading it, while Harry just sat there, staring at the fire and wishing that two weeks would pass quickly so that he'd have a change to talk with Sirius. After some time, he said good night to Hermione and left to go to sleep. He was feeling really tired and sleep came quite easily for him that night.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	2. The First Task

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

AN: And here's the second chapter, finally. It took me much more time to edit this than the first chapter, despite this chapter being shorter...

I've also noticed that I've written about some things, like homework, with a bit more detail than most of the fan fiction, and while I personally like that kind of meaningless details, I hope too many won't be bored by them...

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 2 – The First Task**

The next morning when Harry woke up, he realized that it was a Saturday and that he'd have most of the day for himself, as he was going to have a day off of the training with Hermione. He stayed in his bed for much longer than he usually did, feeling comfortable under the warm blanket, and when he finally got up it was almost nine already. He dressed, and seeing that the weather seemed quite nice, he decided to go flying that day, despite there being no Quidditch this year – there was no rule that denied flying on your own, just for fun, that he knew about.

In the common room he saw Ron with Dean and Seamus but Harry just looked the other way and continued through the room. He didn't see Hermione in the common room and he thought that she was probably in the library already, as she usually got up early in the weekends too, and so he decided to head down to the Great Hall to have some breakfast.

During his walk there, he was being stared at by most of the students he met, and someone also asked him if he needed a handkerchief and that caused several other students nearby to start laughing, though Harry didn't quite get the joke. When he entered the Great Hall, he noticed that most of the students that were still there turned to look and stare at him when they saw him, and when he got to the Gryffindor table and saw the day's paper, that someone had left there, he finally understood why; the Prophet had a long story about him by Rita Skeeter. Harry only glanced at the paper but he was immediately disgusted by the lies she had written – it seemed that the fact that Harry hadn't given her an interview hadn't stopped her from publishing one. So, Harry decided to just quickly grab a bit of the breakfast that was still being served, before he headed back to the Gryffindor Tower to fetch his broom, eating the toast he had grabbed on the way.

As he got back to the tower and walked through the common room, Ron pretended not to notice him and it suit Harry just fine – he didn't need Ron to have fun and go flying. Harry went up to his dormitory and took his broom, before heading back down to the common room and out of the Gryffindor Tower. When he finally made his way to the Quidditch pitch, it was quite predictably empty – very few students bothered with flying without Quidditch.

As he mounted his Firebolt and climbed high in the air, Harry felt really relaxed for the first time since he had been chosen as a champion. It seemed that all the tension, frustration and anger he had felt since the Halloween vanished as he continued flying and all the thoughts about the Tournament and other issues faded into oblivion. He lost all sense of time, as he made loops in the air, did quick zigzagging turns and made dives straight down at horrifying speeds, usually pulling up just a few feet from the ground.

The weather was very nice and almost exceptionally warm for November, though there had been some heavy clouds in the morning, but they cleared towards the afternoon and the sun started shining sometime during the day. Harry continued flying for what seemed like hours and for a long time he felt that everything was perfect at the moment, but towards the end of his flying session he could detect a small niggling feeling in his mind, telling him that it would be even better if he had someone to fly with. That thought reminded him of Ron again, but Harry banished the thought and focused fully on the flying again, doing another quick and daring dive, and he did manage to concentrate on just the flying again.

It was past midday when Harry finally landed and went to the Great Hall for a quick lunch. The Great Hall was uncomfortably full in his opinion and he tried to eat as quickly as possible to get out of there, but he was not quick enough to avoid hearing Malfoy's commentary about the morning's paper. Neither Hermione nor Ron was there and Harry left as soon as he had eaten.

When he made his way to the Gryffindor Tower, he saw Hermione there, quite predictably reading a book. He greeted her and exchanged a few words with her before heading up to his dormitory and polishing his broom. He didn't hurry with it, as he had plenty of time, and it took him easily an hour as he cared for the precious broom that he had received as a Christmas present from Sirius – he had had the broom for almost a year already and, despite some quite rough handling during Quidditch games, the broom was still in very good condition.

After that he went back to the common room. He didn't really have anything to do until the detention with Dumbledore that evening, so he just sat there doing nothing. That became boring quite quickly, though and so he started talking with Hermione, who didn't seem to have anything urgent to do either. They thought up some ways to make sure that the Gryffindor Tower would be empty the night when Harry would have his talk with Sirius, and she also told him about what she had planned for their training sessions. Now that Harry could do the Shield Charm, they would start practising the Stunning Spell, "Stupefy", and then they would spend some extra time studying the Summoning Charm, if Harry hadn't learned it by then – they were studying that charm in their Charms class and Harry seemed to have trouble learning it – as it too could come in handy in one of the tasks.

Harry didn't really feel like going to the Great Hall for dinner to be further ridiculed by Malfoy and others, and he was glad that he had eaten lunch and thus wasn't feeling really hungry when the dinner time approached. So, when Hermione left to have dinner, he just continued sitting in the common room, until the other Gryffindors started to return from the dinner and he thought that it was about time to make his way to that evening's detention.

His detention with Dumbledore was very much like the one he had had the day before with one notable exception; when he entered Dumbledore's office, he noticed that Fawkes was there and he realized that it hadn't been there the day before. Fawkes welcomed Harry with a trill of song, and Harry briefly wondered where it had been the day before, but his thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore, who asked if Harry had some unfinished homework for that day. Harry didn't have any urgent homework – meaning anything that was due the Monday – but he had Charms and Transfiguration homework for later dates, and Harry decided to tackle the Charms essay that evening. It was a really long and difficult assignment which Harry hadn't even started yet, as there was plenty of time to do it, and thus by eight of clock Harry wasn't yet finished with it and Dumbledore let him go. Harry had been there for three hours already and Dumbledore thought that it was enough for one day's detention.

The next morning, when Harry woke up, he was feeling much more energetic and less tired than what he had felt for the whole week. He felt quite good actually and he didn't really mind it when, immediately after he had eaten breakfast, Hermione dragged him to the Transfiguration classroom to practice for the Tournament – he was quite early at the breakfast and managed to avoid Malfoy, who would have no doubt had more comments about the "interview" published in the Prophet. Hermione seemed quite set on taking back the time they had lost yesterday, when they hadn't trained at all, and they practised for several hours that day. When they were finished, Harry was already starting to get a hang of the Stupefying Charm that they had just started studying, though he seemed not to be making any progress in the wandless magic.

Before the day's detention, Harry had some time to kill and he decided to finish the Charms essay he had started yesterday, and so the only homework assignment he was yet to do was the Transfiguration essay, and as he managed to get that done in the detention that evening, he had all the homework assignments done and he actually felt very good about it. The next day would be Monday already and they would, no doubt, get some more homework, but it was nice to start the week without anything left hanging from the previous week.

With everything he had to do, the week passed quickly for Harry. The days following the news article weren't any easier for him than the days following the Halloween had been, and every day he looked forward to the end of the classes when he could finally get away from the other students. Others than Malfoy too had started quoting pieces from the news article, and while most of them concentrated on Harry, some of them also made fun of Hermione, who had been mentioned in the article too. The bullies seemed to be especially fond of the part where Harry had, allegedly, told Skeeter that he still cried for his parents at times.

He still had detentions with Dumbledore and that didn't leave too much free time for him, especially with Hermione pretty much insisting that they use all the time after his detentions until the curfew to practise for the Tournament. He quickly learned the Stunning Spell but he was still having trouble learning the Summoning Charm, so they concentrated on that spell besides the wandless magic. In that, he still hadn't progressed at all; he could now easily cast the Wingardium Leviosa silently, if he concentrated properly on it, but the leap from silent magic to wandless magic seemed to be quite enormous and it made it seem like he wasn't making any progress at all. Hermione somehow managed to motivate him and keep his spirits high enough to continue with the wandless magic practise through the week.

The Thursday finally marked the end of Harry's detentions and he had actually received some extra homework to do in that day's detention because he had done everything that had been assigned during the classes of the week. Harry had noticed that Fawkes was missing from Dumbledore's office quite often and he had few times briefly wondered where it was, but he didn't feel comfortable asking the Headmaster where it went.

Harry was eagerly awaiting for the weekend, as he wouldn't have any homework to do and he would have plenty of free time, despite spending a lot of time with Hermione. He didn't think that Hermione would easily give him another day off, and strangely he didn't even actually feel like he wanted one, as he had become quite used to spending most of his evenings with Hermione; admittedly it could be a bit boring at times, but he really appreciated how calm it was with just her.

The Friday, Harry also had another of the dreaded double Potions classes with Snape. He was feeling quite prepared for the lesson, though and despite Snape being his normal, grouchy git, Harry made it through the double class without any incidents. Snape had seemed a bit sourer than usual, and Harry thought that he was probably still mourning the missed change of making Harry's life even more miserable, when the Headmaster had taken over the detentions that Snape had given Harry.

After the classes, Harry and Hermione joined once again in the Transfiguration classroom to continue with their training. This time, however, Harry was already feeling tired when they began and he got quickly frustrated with his lack of progress.

"I just can't do it, Hermione," he said morosely, after just fifteen minutes of trying to levitate a quill without his wand, and he sat down, sighing wearily.

"It just takes a lot practise, Harry. Remember, it took me several months before I could do it but then it got a lot easier," she encouraged him.

"But I don't have several months!" Harry protested. "By that time the tasks are already over. It would be better to use the time for practising something else," he said gloomily.

Hermione sighed. She too was quite tired to tell the truth, no matter how she tried to hide it. They had been spending a lot of time studying, and Harry had been progressing quite well in the wandless magic, but otherwise he wasn't progressing as fast as she had thought that he would – he still couldn't do the Summoning Charm, for example – and she knew that Harry had a point there. It didn't help that he was being insulted by many of the students and it obviously hurt him more than he admitted, and it did nothing to help his concentration with their studying. And then there was also Ron still being an immature prat – another thing that was obviously bothering Harry.

"It's just that the difference between silent spellcasting and wandless spellcasting is so huge, that it seems that you're not making any progress while in truth you are. If there was something in between them, it would help to see that you are making headway," she said to him, deep in thought.

"Why can't I try it without the wand motions?" he asked.

"Because without the motion the wand is basically useless and it is just as difficult as without a wand," she explained him off-handedly.

"Well, isn't there a way to make my wand work only partially without breaking it?" he asked.

"No, not that I know off," she said, thoughtfully.

They lapsed into a thoughtful silence, both thinking about the matter. Harry watched as Hermione absently fingered her wand while thinking and he was struck with an idea. "Couldn't I try using your wand? After all –" he started but he was cut off by Hermione.

"That's brilliant, Harry!" she exclaimed. "Everyone chooses the wand that best suits their magic and a different wand would make the wand less useful in focusing your magic, so you'd have to do more of it by yourself! Your wand has a phoenix feather core, right? And mine has a dragon heartstring, so our wand cores are totally different! That's brilliant, Harry!" she rambled excitedly. "Here, try this," she added, as she offered her wand to him.

Harry took the wand from her and he noticed that it felt a bit strange in his hand, despite it being about the same size as his wand, and he thought that it was probably because it was made of different wood. He carefully tried a normal levitation spell on the quill, with the incantation and the wand movement, but the quill just jerked. He tried it again, concentrating decently on the spell, and this time the quill rose up from the desk and levitated in the air, but it was taking Harry much more effort to do the spell now and the quill still seemed to levitate a bit wobbly. He ended the spell and let the quill fall back on the desk, before trying the spell silently. Nothing happened and the quill stayed firmly on the desk.

"Concentrate, Harry. Take a few deep breaths and concentrate on the spell like you had to do earlier," Hermione advised him, rather needlessly as that was just what Harry was going to do.

He relaxed and closed his eyes and concentrated fully on the thought of levitating the quill, and then he opened his eyes again and tried the spell silently. This time the quill jerked a little but didn't really levitate.

"Almost there, Harry! Just try it again and soon you'll have it," Hermione encouraged him.

Harry, having something that much more clearly showed his progress, was greatly motivated and he continued to practise the spell for most of that evening. When he finally tired of it, he had almost managed to levitate the feather silently with Hermione's wand, and he only had a bit of time to spend on trying to learn the Summoning Charm.

"I don't understand why I don't get that simple charm!" he said to Hermione as they walked back to the Gryffindor tower, just before the curfew. "Almost everyone in the Charms class can do it already, but I can't," he lamented.

"It's OK, Harry. Some spells are just more difficult for some people," she consoled him. She thought about something for a brief moment, but apparently decided that whatever she was going to say was worth saying. "For example, I never quite got the hang of the Riddikulus spell," she said a bit hesitantly, reminding him of the last year when she had failed to get that spell right in their DADA exam.

Harry realized that she was right and it did improve his mood a bit. The fact that Hermione couldn't get some spell right meant that just anyone could have trouble with some spells and it didn't have to mean anything. Still, it didn't change the fact that the Summoning Spell might be really useful in the Tournament and he was unable to do it.

Harry went up to his bed almost immediately after they returned to the Gryffindor Tower and so he was up quite early the next morning – which was a Saturday, he realized gladly. He quickly put on some clothes and headed down to the common room, where he met Hermione, who was just on her way down to breakfast.

"Good morning, Harry! You're up early," she said cheerfully when she noticed him.

"Morning, Hermione," he said, finishing with a yawn. He was still a bit sleepy but he felt quite good otherwise.

On their way down to breakfast they made idle chat, and it seemed that Hermione too was feeling more cheery than she had been during the week. Harry felt like going flying again, like he had done the week before, and while eating breakfast he was again reminded of the feeling he had had while flying last time, about wanting to fly with someone, and he suddenly thought about asking Hermione to fly with him. It seemed like a ridiculous idea at first, as Hermione wasn't at all fond of flying and she was probably going to the library and had a huge load of things she wanted to do, but Harry still couldn't shake off the idea.

"So, Hermione, what are you going to do today?" he asked her, when they were both just finishing their breakfast.

She seemed a bit surprised by the question and looked at him strangely for a moment but then she answered him. "I'm was thinking of going to the library to do some extra research for the Transfiguration assignment and then try to find something about house-elves," she said.

"But you have nothing urgent? Would you come flying with me?" he asked.

"What?" she asked surprised. "Flying with you?" she asked with disbelief clearly evident in her voice. "Not that there's anything wrong with flying with you, but you know I'm not a good flyer," she corrected herself, realizing that her tone hadn't been very nice.

"But that's just another reason to go flying, you could learn to be better at it. And it would be a change to all the studying. Come on, Hermione," he pleaded her. He was starting to feel a bit foolish about asking her – of course she would refuse.

She seemed to seriously think about it for a while and her decision certainly wasn't what he had expected. "OK, but only if you promise not to laugh or anything," she said a bit uncertainly.

Harry was surprised by her positive answer but he quickly recovered from it. "Great! I'll just go and grab my broom quickly. I'll meet you at the Quidditch Pitch," he said brightly and left towards the Gryffindor Tower.

He practically ran all the way to the Fat Lady and he quickly told her the password and hurried inside the tower. There really wasn't a rush anywhere but he was just feeling so eager about getting to fly again, that he wanted to get down to the Quidditch Pitch as fast as possible. Some of the Gryffindors in the common room looked at him funnily when he passed the room to the dormitories practically running, but he didn't pay them any mind and continued up the stairs to his dormitory. He grabbed his broom and hurried down, and out of the Gryffindor Tower just as fast as he had come in. When he got to the Quidditch pitch, he saw that Hermione was already there and she had one of the school brooms with her. She was holding the broom in her hand and she seemed to be rather nervous and tense, as she stood there, waiting for him.

Harry jumped on his Firebolt and flew the rest of the way to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione," he urged her and a bit uncertainly, she mounted the school broom and somewhat shakily lifted of the ground, being careful not to go higher than a foot or two from the ground, as she slowly flew towards him.

"I'm not sure this was such a good idea," she said, as she uncertainly flew next to him and her expression made it clear that she was quite nervous about the situation.

"You just need some practise, Hermione, that's all," Harry encouraged her, before he flew away.

He wanted to have a bit of flying on his own, before helping Hermione with her flying, if she needed help, and he flew high in the air and did a few quick loops and zigzagged in the air, letting all the stress flow out of his mind, just concentrating on the flying for the moment – he really enjoyed the feeling and the noise of the air whistling past his ears and the vision of the scenery tilting and turning around. The weather was quite a bit colder than it had been a week ago, but he didn't think it was too cold to continue flying for sometime.

After a moment he looked back to where Hermione was and he saw that she was still flying close to the earth, making a slow circle around the Quidditch Pitch. He also noticed that the old, unstable school broom wasn't making her flying any easier. He slowly descended closer to her and flew side by side with her.

"Let's switch, Hermione," he called to her.

"What?" she asked, turning her head to look at him, but just then her broom gave a nasty lurch and she quickly turned her head back to the broom and the direction she was going in.

"Let's switch brooms," he explained. "You've never flown anything but those old school brooms, have you?" he asked and she shook her head, still keeping her full attention on the broom and her flying.

Harry landed gracefully and Hermione landed a few metres from him, not so gracefully, though she did manage to stay on her feet.

"Here, try this," Harry said and offered the Firebolt to her. She took it and gave Harry the school broom, but she eyed the Firebolt warily.

"Are you sure, Harry? You're a good flier and can handle any broom, but I'm not sure I could handle flying nearly as fast as you do," she said.

"Don't worry, Hermione, just be careful with the acceleration and it should be much easier to fly than the old school brooms. It's much more stable and corners more evenly, although you should start carefully, as it's more responsive than the old brooms," he encouraged her.

She hesitated for a moment, before mounting the broom and getting ready to take off. She tried to be careful as she took off, but obviously she wasn't careful enough and the broom suddenly sped forward and she screamed in fear. She quickly leaned backwards to slow down the speed and, thanks to the very effective Braking Charm on the broom, she stopped suddenly, almost like she had hit a wall. She swayed on the broom, but managed to stay on it, this time thanks to the safety charms that had been placed on the top of the line broom.

"Carefully," Harry called at her. He mounted the old school broom, took off, and did a few turns to left and right to get a feeling to the broom. It was somewhat unstable and constantly leaned a bit to the right, but with his experience the broom was quite easy to manoeuvre. He flew next to Hermione, who had managed to get the broom to fly slowly enough for her and she was now slowly flying across the Pitch, obviously still frightened about it.

"Try turning, but be very careful," he said to her and she did as he told. She leaned left, very carefully, and the broom started to turn slowly.

Harry flew at Hermione's side for a while, as she slowly got used to handling the broom and soon she seemed much more confident. She did several turns left and right and tried increasing and decreasing her speed carefully, until she seemed to be quite comfortable with the broom.

"I think I'm getting a hang of this," she called to him, as she increased her speed just a bit and did a few more careful turns to left and right. Her voice didn't sound nearly as tense as it had been just moments ago and unnoticed by herself, she had also risen higher in the air and she was now flying several feet above the ground.

"I told you it would be easier on a decent broom," he answered her. "Come on, let's fly around the pitch," he said excitedly. He increased his speed just a bit and looking back at her he saw that she was flying a bit faster too, just fast enough to stay close behind him. When he turned at the end of the pitch, he saw that she lowered her speed for the turn, but then she sped up again when she had turned around and flew straight towards the other side of the pitch again.

They continued flying and Hermione's confidence seemed to grow by minute, but the weather was quite cool for flying and Harry thought that they couldn't fly for too long without catching a cold. Quite soon he saw her landing and she was looking quite cold too, but she seemed to have come up with a solution to that problem – he saw her cast some kind of a spell on herself. Harry landed next to her to ask if she could do the spell on him too, but she beat him to it and asked if he needed a warming charm too. He quickly answered positively and he thanked her earnestly, as the comfortable warmness of the charm enveloped him.

They both mounted their brooms again and continued flying for some time more, until the effect of the warming charms started to wear off, and they were starting to get cold again. She had improved in leaps and bounds, although she still wasn't a good flier by any definition and wouldn't be without a lot of practise, but now at least she could fly without being scared witless. Harry ended up flying the old school broom for most of the time, but he didn't really mind it that much, as Hermione was much more comfortable on his Firebolt. Hermione did try the school broom again, just before they ended their flying session, and this time she could handle it with much more confidence at a slow speed. She was also smiling happily instead of being tense and nervous.

After they took the school broom back to the broomshed, Harry and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor Tower and started doing homework. Harry was very satisfied when he finished his only unfinished homework assignment in just a couple of hours and he was free of homework for the rest of the weekend. After that he sat for a while in the common room with Hermione, who was, of course, finished with her own homework, but she was doing some extra credit for Transfiguration. She thought that he should go and talk with Ron, but he was adamantly against it and he thought that Ron should come to him first. She didn't push her opinion too much, though and for that he was glad, because he didn't want to spend his time thinking or quarrelling about Ron. Soon they, once again, went to the Transfiguration classroom to practise, and that evening they had plenty of time for that and Hermione seemed to be very satisfied about that – especially as Harry was finally starting to get a hang of the Summoning Charm, and this time he also managed to do the Levitation Charm silently with Hermione's wand.

The Sunday and the next week passed quickly and Harry was happy that they did. Malfoy and some other students were still quoting pieces from the week old newspaper and quite a many students from Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were wearing the badges he was making. Harry's evenings were still spent training for the Tournament with Hermione and Harry finally mastered the Summoning Charm on Wednesday. That Friday Harry also finally managed for the first time to do the Levitation Charm without his wand and Hermione was really thrilled about that, and he did feel quite good about it himself too – if Hermione was right, now it would get easier for him to learn doing other spells without a wand.

The Saturday was a Hogsmeade day and Harry went there with Hermione, but he was wearing his invisibility cloak, because he didn't want to be seen by anyone. Hermione wasn't very happy about that, as she didn't like being with the invisible Harry, not knowing exactly where he was and looking like she was talking to herself, but she understood that he wanted to avoid drawing attention from the students of the other Houses. They spent a moment going around the shops and then they went to the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer and Harry still refused to take off his invisibility cloak.

While they were in Three Broomsticks, Hagrid came there with Mad-Eye Moody, and Harry and Hermione learned that Professor Moody could see through invisibility cloaks with his artificial eye. Hagrid asked Harry to visit him at midnight and Harry was quite perplexed about that, wondering why Hagrid wanted to meet him that late That night was also the night that Harry would finally get to talk with Sirius and, because of that, Hermione thought that Harry shouldn't go and see Hagrid, so that he wouldn't be in danger of missing Sirius's appearance.

Harry decided to meet Hagrid, despite what Hermione said, because he thought that Hagrid had to have something important to show or tell him, and thus, just before midnight, Harry made his way down to Hagrid's hut under his invisibility cloak. When he got there, Harry was quite surprised to see that Hagrid had a date with Madame Maxime – the Headmaster of Beauxbatons and also one of the Triwizard judges. Hagrid and Madame Maxime made their way to the Forbidden Forest and Harry followed them, feeling quite baffled, but not knowing what else to do.

What Harry saw in the forest made him very glad that he had decided to follow them; there was a dragon enclosure with four dragons and dozens of dragon keepers in the forest. He heard a conversation between Hagrid and Charlie Weasley, about the dragons being used in the first task, and the champions having to get past the dragons somehow. Charlie was Ron's brother and he was one of the dragon keepers there. Hagrid seemed to be entranced by the dragons and Harry decided to leave him at that, as he really had to get back to the common room. On his way back to the castle, he stumbled on Professor Karkaroff, but luckily the invisibility cloak covered him completely and Karkaroff didn't see him.

Fortunately the common room was empty when Harry came back and he took the invisibility cloak off and sat down on an armchair in front of the fire to wait. Just a moment later, Harry was startled, as Sirius's head appeared in the common room fire, but he quickly recovered from his surprise and he started talking with Sirius through the fire. Sirius was suspicious that Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang and also one of the judges, was the one that had put Harry's name in the Goblet. Apparently he had been a Death Eater during the war against Voldemort, but he had been freed from Azkaban for giving up names of other Death Eaters.

Harry told Sirius about the dragons and Sirius was going to tell Harry about how to get past one in the first task, but just then someone came down to the common room from the dormitories, and Harry told Sirius to go and not to get caught. It turned out to be Ron who had interrupted Harry's speech with Sirius and Harry lost his temper with Ron, getting quite cross with him. Then Harry angrily stormed up to the boys dormitory past Ron, and he couldn't get to sleep for a long time, but despite that he didn't hear Ron come back up to the dormitory.

The next morning Harry told Hermione about the dragons and together they tried to think of a way Harry could get past one. They spent most of the day in the library searching for a spell, or some other way, to somehow pacify or cheat a dragon but they didn't come up with anything useful. All of the spells they found only worked if there was at least half a dozen people casting the spell at the same time on the dragon, and Harry wasn't allowed to take magical devices, like his invisibility cloak, to the task either. Viktor Krum appeared in the library later and with him came several girls that seemed to follow him everywhere. Hermione was annoyed by them, because they were making a lot of noise, and Harry and Hermione checked out some books and went up to the Gryffindor common room to continue their reading. Despite continuing to read late to the night, they didn't come up with anything useful.

The next day it was already the day before the first task and Harry was starting to get really anxious about the impending task and Hermione too seemed to be very nervous about it. It was also a Monday and they had to go to the classes, despite both of them wanting to spend the time in the library, looking for something that could help Harry.

When Harry met Cedric in the corridors of the castle later that day, just before his Herbology class, Harry stopped Cedric and told him about the dragons. Harry thought that it was only fair since Madame Maxime had no doubt told Fleur Delacour about the dragons, and Professor Karkaroff had probably seen the dragons too and had told Viktor Krum, so Cedric was the only champion that didn't know about the dragons yet.

Their talk was interrupted by Professor Moody and he had apparently heard their talk and he called Harry to his office. Instead of scolding Harry for cheating, Professor Moody thought that it had been a very decent thing to do and he even gave Harry a couple of hints on how to get through the task. With his help, Harry realized that he could use a Summoning Charm to summon his broom and then try to out fly the dragon.

Harry was very glad that they had spent some time with Hermione to learn the Summoning Charm, but despite him being quite comfortable with it, he spent that evening with her, making sure that he could do the charm decently. He was good at it, but he was still a bit nervous about the whole thing, as it would be a really long distance to summon his broom all the way to the dragon enclosure from the Gryffindor Tower.

The morning of the first task arrived and Harry was almost a nerve wreck, and the tense and excited atmosphere of the school was definitely not helping with the panic he was feeling – the classes were to stop at midday and then it would be time for Harry to face a dragon. Hermione tried to keep his mind off of the task during the day, but she wasn't that much of a help and Harry didn't think that there was much that could take your mind off of a dragon you were about to face.

He somehow made his way through the morning classes, feeling quite surreal and detached from the rest of the school for some reason, and during the lunch Professor McGonagall came for him; he was called with the other champions to prepare for the task. Even Professor McGonagall seemed to be extremely nervous as she led the way to the Forbidden Forest and towards the dragon enclosure. She left Harry at an entrance to a tent that had been erected near the dragon enclosure and left, wishing him good luck.

Harry stepped inside the tent and he saw that the other champions were already there, waiting, and they all seemed to be very nervous. Ludo Bagman was also there, and he told the champions about the task; they simply had to get a golden egg that was guarded by a dragon. Each of the champions had to draw a model dragon from a silk sack to determine which dragon would be guarding the egg of each of the champions and, as Harry was the last one to draw and had seen what dragons the others had got, he already knew that he would be left with the most dangerous of them – a Hungarian Horntail. He would also be the last champion to do the task.

Before the task, Bagman also wanted to have a talk with Harry and tried to give him some advice about the first task, but Harry didn't need any help, as he already knew what he was going to do, and soon Bagman had to hurry up, because he would be commentating the task.

It was one of the most difficult times of Harry's life to wait for his turn at the first task, totally wrecked with nerves. He could hear the loud shouts and gasps of the audience and also Bagman's commentary, but he couldn't see what was happening, as the other champions, one by one, went through the first task. From what he could make out of the commentary, each of the other champions had some close calls with the dragon, which didn't exactly ease Harry's nerves, but at least they did all manage to get the golden egg.

When it was finally Harry's turn and he was called to the arena, he was so nervous that he was almost trembling and he had trouble just walking. As he shakily walked towards the entrance to the arena where the dragon would be awaiting for him, he tried to calm down his nerves and keep focused on the Summoning Charm and his broom – he had to be calm enough to be able to summon his broom or he would be in deep, deep trouble. After he would get his broom, it would be a lot easier, as he was sure that getting in the air would help him get rid of at least some of his fears and nervousness, and it would also give him a clear direction of what to do – to out fly the dragon and get the egg.

As Harry entered the arena, he first noticed the countless faces staring at him from the stands, but he didn't pay them any mind, as his eyes searched for the dragon that was at the other end of the enclosure, quite a long distance from him. The dragon was just standing there with its wings half-folded and it had also noticed Harry and it was staring at him intently, as he was getting ready to Summon his broom. Just as he was ready to raise his wand, his concentration slipped, as he saw the dragon open its mouth to a deafening roar, before unfolding its wings completely and for a moment, Harry could just stare at the dragon, transfixed, as the mighty creature lifted off the ground with just two fierce flaps of its enormous wings. Then the dragon suddenly shot straight towards Harry with a speed that seemed impossible for something so large and he was startled to notice that the dragon was rapidly closing the distance between them and would reach him in just a few seconds!

Harry's mind was screaming for him to run, but just as he was about to do that, his instincts took over him completely and he just stood rooted on the spot. For a second he felt completely removed from the rest of the world, as his instincts were making him wait for the exactly right moment to leap out of the dragon's way; if he tried to run, the dragon would have no difficulty in changing its course just a bit and catching him, but if he leapt out of its way late enough, the dragon wouldn't have time to change its course. The second that he just stood there, watching the dragon drawing closer to him, seemed to stretch on forever and Harry was not even aware of the horrified screams and cries from the audience that drowned all other noises under them, and even the dragon's flight seemed to slow down to a crawl, as Harry's whole mind was focused on following the dragon with his eyes.

Just as quickly as the moment had come, it was over, as Harry's instincts finally told him that it was the time to jump and he made a wild leap out of the dragon's reach, landing painfully on his side on the ground, but managing to miraculously avoid the attack of the huge beast – it didn't have time to change its direction and it missed Harry. Ignoring his pains, Harry started to immediately get up, ready to dodge another attack from the dragon, if needed, but before he had time to do anything, he was struck heavily by something large and the force of the impact was enough to send Harry flying through the air, besides striking the air out of his lungs and causing a flaring pain in his chest.

He was thrown side first against something hard and he collided with it painfully, hitting his head on it so hard that he felt dizzy and almost blacked out. He could also feel his glasses breaking and falling, but he barely noticed that, as he knew that he had to stay conscious to get away from the dragon and he had to fight against the dizzying feeling. But the feeling was overwhelming and he only managed to fight it for a second or two before he succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness and the last thing he felt was an immense heat all around him, burning him.

_To be continued...  
_

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Bit of a different twist to the first task and a cliff-hanger too, but don't worry, I've already started editing the third chapter and I should get that done quite soon. Hopefully tomorrow already, but no promises... 


	3. Recovering and Changes

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

This is a repost of the third chapter with very minor changes. I originally had Fawkes' gender incorrect, and I thought I had corrected it, but apparently I missed some places and Fawkes was being referred to as both 'she' and 'he' at different parts of the chapter, and I corrected that. A hearty "thank you" to autumnRose88 for noticing that.

A couple of notes: This chapter ended up taking a bit more time than I thought it would, and it ended up quite a long chapter, over 10k words.

To Locathah: As far as I know (and I might be mistaken), the dragons in the first task weren't secured, but they were free, although they preferred to stay close to the eggs they were guarding, and in the GoF Harry didn't get the egg before he managed to lure the dragon in the air. There will be an explanation to why the dragon attacked Harry so fiercely.

Some passages of text in the last chapter were summarized from the book, but that was a conscious choice, although it probably wasn't the best choice to make. I didn't want to quote too much from the book (and I don't think quoting that long pieces of would have been legal anyway), but neither did I want to rewrite the scenes when they some of them were pretty much identical to the scenes in the books, and as I didn't want to just jump over them, I instead wrote short summaries of them. There will be less and less canon events, as the story progresses...

The next chapter is probably going to take a bit longer, but I'm hoping to get it edited by the weekend, or at the very latest, next week.

And thanks for all the reviews!

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**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 3 – Recovering and Changes**

Harry woke up gradually from a deep dreamless slumber and the first thing he felt was pain all over his body; he felt achy all over and there was a very uncomfortable tingling in most of his left side, and he thought that he felt like he had tumbled down at least a kilometre of stairs. He also felt very weary but despite that he opened his eyes and he felt disoriented for a moment, not knowing where he was – it didn't help that he didn't have his glasses on and he saw everything somewhat foggily. He was lying on his back on a bed that felt quite different to his four-poster bed, but when he turned his head a bit, he saw that he was in the Hospital Wing, and judging by the darkness visible through the windows he could now see, it was either late in the evening or early in the morning. He had no idea why he was there, though and any further thought was interrupted by a sound of moving from somewhere to his left.

"Harry, you're awake!" said a voice that Harry recognized to be Hermione's and there seemed to be a great deal of relief in her voice.

In a blink of an eye she was hugging him and while the hug was very careful and soft, it didn't improve Harry's situation at all; it hurt him even more and he felt somewhat dizzy. Hermione seemed to notice his discomfort and she quickly drew back, and when Harry could see her face, he saw that tears were brimming in her eyes and she was looking distressed despite the relief in her voice.

"I'm is sorry, Harry. I'm just so relieved, you almost didn't make it, and the last two days have been absolutely awful and... oh, I'm so glad you're awake!" she said and her tears were falling openly at the end of her short speech, although she was now smiling weakly.

Harry tried to ask her why he was there, but he couldn't get a word out of his mouth, as his throat felt parched. Hermione noticed that and she took a glass from a nearby table and held it out for him. He tried to take the glass from her hand, but his arms felt very heavy and he could barely lift them. Hermione hesitated a bit, but then she put the glass carefully against his lips and she tilted it a bit, so that some water flowed in his mouth. It was a bit uncomfortable, but with her help, Harry managed to drink several sips and his throat felt much better after that.

"Thank you," Harry said and his voice was very weak, and despite him trying to talk normally, it came out as barely a whisper.

Hermione heard it anyway and she smiled to him as a reply. Before Harry had time to try asking his question again, Madam Pomfrey appeared in the room from her office.

"Mr. Potter you're awake at last!" she said and he could hear the relief in her voice too.

She came next to his bed and ran her wand along his body, gesturing with it and saying some spells. Harry felt a bit uncomfortable about it as always when he was in the Hospital Wing, but she was apparently satisfied with what she learned.

"It was quite a close call, but you have healed quickly and it's only going to take a day or two until you're fully healed," she said. She left to her office and returned almost immediately with a potion.

"This potion is going to help your burned skin to heal faster," she said and she put the potion on his lips and poured the nasty tasting liquid in his mouth. He had a bit of trouble swallowing it, because it tasted so strong and sour, and when he had finally swallowed all of it, Hermione took the glass of water again and looked at him questioningly. He just nodded to her and with her help, he drank the glass empty to wash away the nasty taste.

"W-why am I here?" he finally asked and his voice was still weak and throaty.

He had meant the question for Hermione, but it was Madam Pomfrey who answered and he turned to look at her. "Don't you worry about that for now, Mr. Potter. That can wait until you are a bit stronger and it is always better if you remember it by yourself," she told him.

Harry had just woken up, but still he was starting to feel really tired again and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, despite trying to fight against the tiredness – he wanted to stay awake and wanted know what had happened to him. His fight against the weariness was apparently seen by Madam Pomfrey.

"It's okay if you feel tired, Mr. Potter. Just sleep if you feel like it. Tomorrow you should be much more energetic already," she told him and Harry barely heard her, as he fell back to sleep.

This time Harry dreamed when he slept. In the dream a dragon was chasing him and no matter what he did, the dragon kept constantly gaining in on him, and when it was just about to get him, he jerked awake suddenly. For a moment Harry felt disoriented again, but even in the dim light he could see that he was still in the Hospital Wing, and as a result of his dream, he now remembered the first task and realized that he was in here because he had been attacked by the dragon. He didn't remember any of the details from the incident, just being thrown against something hard and a burning sensation, but at least he knew that he had survived through it.

Harry was startled when he heard a clearing of a throat somewhere to his left, and turning his head that way, he saw Professor Dumbledore sitting there.

"Ah, Harry, you're awake," Dumbledore said with his usual cheery tone.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, not knowing what else to say, and he noticed that his throat was feeling much better now than it had felt the last time he had been awake. "Sir? I was attacked by the dragon, wasn't I?" he asked, wanting to make sure that he remembered it correctly.

"You were indeed," Dumbledore answered seriously. "It was fortunate that there were dragon keepers at the ready or you might not have made it," he added gravely, but then continued in a more cheery tone. "Although, Fawkes was a huge help with the first aid of your injuries," he said.

"Fawkes?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yes. He appeared while Madam Pomfrey was giving you first aid and was preparing to move you to the Hospital Wing – or even St. Mungo's, as you were very grievously injured. According to Madam Pomfrey, Fawkes was a huge help, and that it is largely thanks to him that you survived and have recovered so quickly," Dumbledore told him.

Harry spent a moment feeling really grateful for the phoenix for helping him, but then he remembered the Tournament again. "So, I failed the first task?" he asked and there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"By definition that is true, you failed to get the golden egg, but you are lucky to have survived the attack of the dragon. Not many have lived through such a fierce and direct attack of a dragon, and the other champions managed the task only because their dragons didn't react nearly as violently as yours did," Dumbledore consoled him and then he smiled a bit, before continuing.

"Your leap out of the dragon's reach was actually very impressive and you would have probably succeeded in avoiding its attack, if the dragon hadn't swung its tail at you as it passed you. It had to stop its speed and turn around, before it could attack again, and by that time the dragon keepers were already there, and the dragon only had time to breathe fire at you briefly, before it was brought under the control of the dragon keepers," Dumbledore told.

"But why did the dragon attack me immediately? I didn't even have time to do anything!" Harry asked aggrieved.

"I'm afraid that I, nor any of the dragon keepers, have no clear idea of why that happened. Dragons don't have any natural enemies and they usually only attack when threatened or hurt, but the Hungarian Horntail that attacked you seemed to be enraged by your presence and it calmed down almost immediately after you had been taken away from the enclosure to the care of Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore told him in an apologetic tone.

Then Dumbledore got a far away look on his face and seemed to be reminiscing about something. "There is only one instance in which I have a seen a dragon act similarly and that was a long time ago – not long after Fawkes became my companion, as a matter of fact. It is something that is not commonly known, since phoenixes are so rare, but dragons are enraged by a presence of a phoenix, and my best guess is that the Hungarian Horntail attacked you because it could somehow sense your connection with Fawkes," Dumbledore told and turned to look at Harry again.

At Harry's bewildered look Dumbledore explained the matter further. "You remember how Fawkes appeared in the Chamber of Secrets when you were in danger? That was very unusual behaviour for even a creature as mysterious as a phoenix. It was as thought Fawkes somehow sensed that you were in trouble and felt the need to help you, and the same thing happened after the dragon attacked you – he knew that you were in trouble and came to help you with your injuries," Dumbledore told Harry.

Dumbledore lapsed to a short silence to think about something before continuing and while thinking he stroked his beard. "Fawkes has been my companion for a long time, and during that time he has helped me several times, but in all of those instances I have called for him through a connection we share and can use to communicate on a very rudimentary level, mostly through simple emotions," Dumbledore told thoughtfully. "But I believe you don't have that kind of a connection with him?" he asked, focusing back on Harry.

Harry was a bit surprised about the question, as he hadn't even know about that kind of a thing existing. "Uhm, no, sir, I don't," he answered a bit uncertainly.

"That's what I thought, because I've never had any problems with dragons," Dumbledore replied. "As long as I haven't had Fawkes with me, of course," he added with a small smile and took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.

"Ever since the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, I have suspected some kind of a connection between you and Fawkes, although I haven't seen anything like that before. It wouldn't really be that surprising, as I don't know nearly all of the secrets of phoenixes, despite having had one for a long time," Dumbledore told, finishing with a fond expression.

Harry sat there silently for a while, taking it all in. He had never really thought about Fawkes appearing in the Chamber of the Secrets that much, but now that he did think about it, it seemed a bit weird to him and he realized that Dumbledore was right – there seemed to be some kind of a connection between him and Fawkes. As Harry thought about it more closely, it seemed that Dumbledore's explanation just roused more questions than it really answered and he wondered how and why he had become connected with Fawkes, although there was one question that Dumbledore would almost certainly be able to answer.

"Sir? What about the Tournament? I failed the first task and didn't get the egg. What about that?" Harry asked.

"The rules of the Tournament weren't actually clear about that, as the tasks of the Tournament have usually been separate and failing in one task has usually meant only getting very few points in that task; but in this case the egg was required to figure out the next task and thus there was a vote among the judges. Considering what the judges thought about you being in the Tournament at all, it wasn't a surprise that you were voted out of the Tournament by a majority of votes, which means that you were disqualified and are no more considered to be a champion," Dumbledore told him with a neutral expression.

Harry sighed in relief. That would mean that he wouldn't have to endanger his life in the remainder of the tasks and he would be free of the Tournament. That also meant that who ever had put his name in the Goblet of Fire, had failed and he realized that that was both a good and a bad thing, as now it would be more difficult to predict what the unknown person would try doing next. Despite the relief, Harry couldn't help also feeling disappointed by his failure – he hadn't lasted for more than a few seconds in the first task. Dumbledore apparently saw the disappointment in his expression.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for failing the first task, Harry. Just about any witch or wizard would have been helpless in the situation you were in and I don't believe that there is a single person who could have successfully battled a dragon by him or herself," Dumbledore consoled him. "Professor Moody, who has always been keen on fair fights, demanded that the first task be rematched because it obviously wasn't fair for you. The judges, of course, already decided that by disqualifying you, and there won't be a rematch," Dumbledore added.

They both lapsed into a silence. Harry was deep in thought, thinking about how the school would react to his failure. It was obvious that the Slytherin would be delighted by it and they wouldn't hesitate to make fun of him for it, but he hoped that the animosity from the other houses would finally stop now that he wasn't a champion any more and Cedric was the only Hogwarts champion. There was still one thing that piqued his curiosity, though.

"Sir? Do you think it possible that the same person that put my name in the Goblet could have done something to the dragon?" Harry asked.

"I think that very unlikely. As I said, there are very few things that aggravate a dragon like that, and I can't think of any besides the dragon being harmed or a phoenix being present. The dragon keepers, of course, checked that the dragon hadn't been injured or that any magic hadn't been used on it, and they didn't find even a trace of anything suspicious," Dumbledore answered his question evenly. "But despite being unlikely, it is always a possibility," he added as an afterthought.

Harry thought about it for a moment and decided that he didn't know enough about it to decide what he really believed in, but he couldn't help thinking that someone probably had done something to enrage the dragon, as Dumbledore's explanation about his connection with Fawkes seemed a bit mysterious to him. Harry made a personal note to ask for Hermione's help to figure out the dragon thing if at all possible. As he thought about it, his eyes wandered around the Hospital Wing and he noticed that he wasn't wearing his glasses, but he noticed them on a table near his bed, along with his wand. He put the glasses on, but he also noticed that he didn't have his watch on and it was nowhere to be seen.

"Professor? Do you know what happened to my wristwatch?" Harry asked, feeling a bit stupid about asking something so mundane from the Headmaster, but he was quite attached to the watch as he had had it for a long time, and he was quite used to it.

"It was broken beyond repair in the incident, I'm afraid," Dumbledore told and looked sympathetic.

Harry nodded a bit sadly, but thought that he would just have to get a new watch and then try to get used to that one.

"Unless you have anything further to ask, I'll be off to breakfast," Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts. After Harry shook his head, Dumbledore continued. "Madam Pomfrey will be bringing you breakfast shortly and I believe you'll be released from the Hospital Wing soon. Try to have a good day, Harry," he said, finishing in a cheery tone, and Dumbledore left the Hospital Wing after Harry bid him a good day.

Harry was left alone for a while and as his thoughts wandered around anything considering his dragon incident, he suddenly realized that he hadn't asked about his injuries. He was still feeling a bit achy all around his body and there was a slight tingling sensation in most of his left side, but he didn't think that he had any serious injuries – he could move all his limbs and he didn't feel any severe pain anywhere.

Just as Dumbledore had told him, Madam Pomfrey arrived sometime later with a tray of breakfast. It was the third day after the first task and he hadn't had any solid food during that time, so he only received some light soup to get his stomach used to digesting food again. Madam Pomfrey also confirmed that he didn't have any serious injuries any more, although he had received a severe concussion and several broken bones when he had been thrown against a rock by a swing of the dragon's tail. He had also been burned when the dragon had breathed fire at him, and as a result large areas in his left side had been burned, although most of the damage there had been done by his clothes catching fire and continuing to burn for a while. Three days of magical treatment had mostly cured him, however, and he only needed to rest for a few days and he'd be in full condition – mostly his body was just exhausted physically and magically from healing his injuries so quickly. He would be released from the Hospital Wing later that day if he felt strong enough, and with some relief Harry realized that it was a Friday morning and that he wouldn't have to go to classes at least until the next Monday.

After he had eaten and had another foul tasting potion, Madame Pomfrey left the Hospital Wing and Harry was left alone again, and now he couldn't help thinking more about the Tournament, and the fact that, once again, he had been almost in Hogwarts. Someone had entered him in the Tournament and had seemingly managed to enrage a dragon against him – or that's what he thought at the moment – and no one knew who it was. Even Professor Dumbledore seemed to be powerless to defend him from this unknown evil and yet again his life was on the line at Hogwarts. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Hermione, who was practically dragging Ron with her to the Hospital Wing.

"Good to see you awake, Harry," she said with a happy smile and she gave him a brief, careful hug. Then she stepped back and looked at Ron expectantly.

Ron looked like he wanted to disappear, but despite that he started talking. "Harry, I'm sorry, I was –" he started quite uncomfortably, but Harry interrupted him.

"It's OK, Ron," Harry said. He was actually quite tired of the whole thing and just wanted to put it all behind.

"But I shouldn't have –" Ron started again.

"Just forget it," Harry said more firmly.

Ron grinned nervously, but the nervousness disappeared when Harry grinned back. Hermione burst into tears of relief and hugged them both, saying that they were both idiots. Ron was looking at her like she had grown two heads, while Harry just sighed darkly, but neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to notice that.

"It's rotten that the dragon you got was mad, but at least you got out of the Tournament. None of the other champions could have done anything against a mad dragon either," Ron said lightly.

"Ron!" Hermione reprimanded him, through her tears. "He's supposed to remember it on his own!" she said, now wiping away the tears.

"It's OK, Hermione. I already remembered what happened. Dumbledore was here before you came and we talked about it," Harry said placatingly.

Ron was going to say something but Hermione beat him to it. "Did he have any idea why the dragon attacked you?" she asked quickly, obviously interested.

"No, not really, but he did have a guess. He thinks it has something to do with my connection with Fawkes," Harry told her.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? I didn't know you were somehow connected with Fawkes?" she asked.

"Well, neither did I, actually, but Dumbledore has suspected something like that since Fawkes came to help me in the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said.

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "But why would that make a dragon attack you?" she asked puzzled.

Harry opened his mouth to answer her, but then he realized that Dumbledore hadn't said anything about why dragons couldn't stand phoenixes. "Actually he didn't say anything about that. He only said that dragons are enraged by a presence of a phoenix and he also said that that isn't common knowledge, since phoenixes are so rare," Harry told her, slightly bemused.

"Oh, I didn't know anything about that," Hermione answered and she seemed very interested. "I must check the library about it later," she added mostly to herself.

Ron mouthed "mental" at that and Harry put a bit forced grin on his face, as he didn't actually feel like having fun at the moment, especially about Hermione who had helped him so much with the Tournament, and he thought that Hermione was right anyway – he wanted to know why the dragon had attacked him and whether it was possible that someone had done it on purpose, like he suspected.

"Uhm, Harry?" Hermione said a bit uncertainly to get Harry's attention again. "I wrote to Sirius, saying that you're OK, because I thought that he would like to know about that. I hope you don't mind that," she said a bit tentatively.

"Oh," Harry said a bit surprised. He hadn't actually thought about Sirius yet and he felt slightly guilty about it. "No, I don't mind that. Actually I think it's good that you wrote to him," Harry answered Hermione honestly.

They lapsed into a short silence, that was broken by Hermione. "Oh, we need to get to breakfast or we'll be late for classes," she said suddenly. "Do you know when you'll be getting out of the Hospital Wing yet, Harry?" she asked curiously.

"This evening, probably," Harry answered.

"We'll see you then, Harry," Hermione said brightly, waved at him and started making her way out of the Hospital Wing.

"See you, mate," Ron said quickly and followed her.

Harry was left alone again and he started thinking about what had just happened with Ron. He felt happy that Ron had finally come around and they were in speaking terms again, but somehow he didn't feel quite as happy as he thought that he should. He had got his best mate back but he felt mostly indifferent about it, although he was quite sure that having Ron back would no doubt make it easier to face the rest of the school and everything that seemed to be happening to him – now he had two close friends again, instead of just one.

Despite having woken up only a couple of hours ago, Harry started feeling tired soon and he fell asleep once again. He slept a bit restlessly, but if he had nightmares again, he didn't remember them when he woke up, and he only slept a couple of hours, anyway. After waking up, Harry felt a bit irritated about being so tired, but soon he forgot it, as he started thinking about the first task and everything considering it. He noticed that he was actually feeling quite gloomy about everything and he found himself wishing that his life wouldn't always be so uncertain.

Sometime later, Madam Pomfrey brought him lunch and after making a quick check on his health, she said that he could leave the Hospital Wing after he had eaten and he would, of course, be excused from the classes for the day. He could now have more solid food than he had in the morning, although Madam Pomfrey told him not eat anything too heavy for a day or he might start feeling sick. Harry thought that there was very little danger of that, as he wasn't feeling hungry at all and mostly he just pushed his food around on the plate. After he was finished with his meal, Madam Pomfrey told him that he might still feel weak and tired for a few days, and she told him to have plenty of rest and avoid straining himself during that time, before dismissing him from the Hospital Wing.

As he stood up from the hospital bed, getting up on his feet for the first time in three days, Harry felt a bit unsteady on his feet, but despite that he started making his way out of the Hospital Wing and when he got all the way to the Gryffindor Tower, he was already feeling exhausted. Most of the students were still in their classes and the tower was empty except for two students from lower classes that had a flu. They both soon retired to their dormitories to have some rest and Harry was left alone, and he was glad for that, as he didn't feel like being around anyone at the moment and just wanted to be alone.

Harry just sat there morosely, deep in thought, until the classes ended, and as he still wasn't feeling very hungry, he decided not to go to the dinner. Soon the students started to trickle into the Gryffindor Tower, and to his annoyance, most of them stared at him when they entered the common room, but he didn't say anything about it, and acted like he didn't even notice the stares. It seemed that every time something happened to him, he was stared at by everyone, like he was some kind of an animal in a zoo, or something like that.

When Ron and Hermione entered the common room, they noticed him almost immediately and made their way directly to him. Ron challenged Harry to a game of Wizard Chess and Harry was happy to play against Ron – it gave him something to do and would most certainly get him out of the miserable mood he seemed to be in. Hermione told Harry that she was going to the library to read about dragons and phoenixes, and for a moment Harry was split between joining her and playing chess with Ron, as he really wanted to find the reason why the dragon had attacked him. In the end, he decided to play just a game or two with Ron and then join her in the library.

Harry became bored of the chess quite quickly, though, and soon he was just moving his pieces around randomly, while his thoughts kept straying from the game. Ron's light banter also did nothing to improve his mood, and he just found himself making fake smiles and grins at Ron's jokes, while he actually felt anything but cheerful, and Harry started to actually feel annoyed about the situation. He only played one game, before he said that he would go to the library and help Hermione, and, somewhat reluctantly, Ron too left towards the library with him.

Harry felt even more irritated, when he noticed that he was tiring very quickly as they walked towards the library, and he also saw that everyone they passed stared at him, although most of them tried to hide it. Harry just tried to ignore the stares, and towards the end of their trek, it became quite easy, as Harry was starting to feel really exhausted again and had to concentrate on his walking.

Hermione seemed to be very glad when she saw Harry and Ron come to the library, especially when Harry told her that they wanted to help her with the research on phoenixes and dragons. Hermione gave out books for both of them to read and they all started reading. Harry managed to concentrate on his book for a moment, but then his thoughts started wandering again and he couldn't help wondering what the papers had written about him. He hadn't paid attention to it before, but now he realized that the people who had stared at him had mostly seemed sympathetic, and he wondered if it was a result of his injury, or if it was from something that the papers had written about him.

Harry cleared his throat to get Ron's and Hermione's attention. "Was there anything about the first task in the papers?" he asked them, feigning that he wasn't very interested about it.

"Of course there was," Hermione answered him and she seemed to be annoyed by something. "There was a front page article about it and they portrayed you as a tragic hero that was forced to participate in the Tournament," she huffed.

"Oh," Harry said a bit surprised about her tone and the fact that the papers had published something that was nearly the truth. "But that's quite close to the truth, isn't it? I didn't want to be in the Tournament," he said to her with an inquiring tone.

"Oh, don't you see, Harry? They don't care one bit about the truth, and I don't think they even knew that they were telling something close to the truth. All they want is a story to sell their papers," she explained exasperated. "They didn't say it directly, but they made it seem like Dumbledore and the Department of Magical Games and Sports was using your fame to promote the Tournament and forced you to take part in it because of that," she added.

Harry was silent for a moment, thinking about it, and while doing that, he noticed a group of few students enter the library and stare at him briefly with a sympathetic look. Knowing that it was probably because of the newspaper article, he felt irritated at them. "Just great," he said annoyed. "They don't believe me when I tell them that I didn't enter the Tournament myself, but now they believe some trash rag about it," he added darkly, before turning his attention back to the book he was reading. He just wanted to push everyone out of his mind for the moment.

They all continued reading for about an hour, until Hermione broke the silence. "I found something interesting, Harry!" she said excitedly and managed to startle Harry, who had been deep in thought again. She quickly read through the passage of a text she had found, before continuing to speak. "It says here that people don't really own phoenixes, but there is kind of a bond between the phoenix and its companion, and they can use it to communicate with emotions, and it is the phoenix that always creates the bond and can break it any time it wishes to," she said, summarizing the passage of text from the book, and then she turned to look at Harry.

"Uhm, yeah, that's pretty much what Dumbledore told me about him and Fawkes," Harry answered her. "He said that he can call for Fawkes if he needs its help, but he also said that he hasn't had any problems with dragons because of it. And I don't even have that kind of a connection with Fawkes, but still it can apparently somehow sense when I'm in trouble," Harry explained thoughtfully, trying to remember what Dumbledore had said.

"Oh, so you can't communicate with Fawkes?" Hermione asked him, looking at him inquisitively.

"No, I've never been able to do that. Fawkes just appeared in the Chamber of Secrets and apparently he also helped healing my injuries after the first task," Harry told her, feeling a bit uncomfortable under her gaze.

"Oh, I didn't know about that," Hermione said and looked thoughtful for a moment, but then she concentrated back on the book she was reading about magical creatures. Ron had listened to their conversation, but he too went back to reading the book he had in front of him.

They continued sitting in the library for most of the evening, but none of them found anything more of interest, and Harry and Ron hadn't managed to read that much. Ron obviously wasn't very interested about the reading and he looked like he would have preferred to be somewhere else and while Harry really wanted to solve the issue with the dragon and wanted to get through the books in search for clues, he couldn't concentrate very well, as there was so much running through his mind and he was also beginning to feel very tired again.

"Lets check out the books and continue in the common room," Hermione said when the closing time of the library was nearing.

They gathered the books and went to Madam Pince to check out the books and then they headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.

"You should get started on your school work, Harry. You haven't been to classes for three days," Hermione remarked as they walked.

"Give him a rest, Hermione! He just got out of the Hospital Wing," Ron defended Harry.

"No, it's OK, Ron," Harry interjected. He really didn't want to listen to Ron and Hermione bicker right now. "She's right, I'm three days behind everyone," he added tiredly, knowing that Hermione was right, and that he'd probably have to do a lot of school work during the weekend and he wasn't looking forward to that at all.

Harry settled to do some homework immediately when they got back to the Gryffindor Tower, and he felt quite awful when he saw the list Hermione had made of the homework they had received and the things they had learned in their classes during the time he had been in the Hospital Wing. Grudgingly, Harry accepted the list and started working, while Hermione continued reading and Ron pretended to read too, although mostly he just sat there doing nothing. Harry was quickly starting to feel totally worn out and soon he couldn't concentrate at all as a result of the tiredness, and he decided to head up to bed, despite it still being quite early. He was so tired that fell asleep almost immediately when he got to bed.

Harry was woken up by nightmares several times during the night, and it was still early in the morning when he decided to get up, as he was quite certain that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep any more, and even if he did, he would soon be woken up by another nightmare. He didn't remember what the nightmares had been about any more, but he was quite certain that they had involved dragons. Harry was down at the breakfast early and there weren't many others in the Great Hall and Harry was glad for that. He had almost finished eating when Hermione joined him and soon they both returned to the Gryffindor Tower. Harry wanted to help Hermione with her research before doing homework and so they both settled to read. Sometime later, Ron greeted them on his way down to breakfast.

Harry's mood was still just as low as it had been the previous evening and when Ron joined them and tried to cheer Harry up with silly jokes and quips, they did nothing to cheer Harry up. Ron stopped his efforts when Harry stopped giving false smiles and grins at his jokes. Harry really didn't want to seem disrespecting – Ron was trying to help him, after all – but the light banter actually made him feel even worse, as it was such a stark contrast to what he was actually feeling. Ron was clearly uncomfortable with Harry being so depressed and Hermione was obviously concerned and wanted to help him but she didn't know what to do about it, and just settled to giving him concerned looks now and then.

Later, when they went to have lunch in the Great Hall, Harry was faced with most of the student body for the first time since the first task and he felt really sick of being stared at, and it wasn't surprising that his appetite still wasn't very good. He ate slowly, so that he was finished at about same time as Ron and Hermione, trying to at least appear like everything was normal, and they didn't seem to notice anything amiss.

It was a boring day for Harry, as he did homework for most of the day, or at least tried to. He managed to concentrate on it until the lunch, but soon after that he was mostly just sitting and thinking about everything again. He pretended like he was doing something until the dinner, but after that he stopped even pretending of doing something and just sat down in front of the common room fire, staring into the flames. Soon he could hear someone come close to the armchair he was sitting on, and he saw Ron standing next to the chair.

"Erm, how about a game of chess, Harry?" Ron asked him cheerily, although he seemed a bit uncomfortable.

For a moment Harry thought of refusing, as he felt like being alone, but then he felt irritated at himself about it and just wanted things to be like they were before the first task. "OK," he said with feigned interest.

As they started to play, Harry tried to force himself to focus on the game and he did succeed in it, at least somewhat. It was a longer game than usual, and Harry thought that Ron wasn't playing with all he had, but Harry didn't mind that terribly much, since it was much more interesting than their games usually were. But when the game ended, and Ron won just as always, Harry noticed that he was feeling tired again and he realized that it wasn't surprising, since he had been up the whole day, unlike yesterday when he had had a nap, and thus after the game Harry retired to go to sleep again.

The Sunday morning Harry woke up early again, but he felt tired and wanted to at least try sleeping for a bit longer. He twisted and turned for a while, but then he managed to doze off for a while, and when he woke up again, he finally decided to get up. Ron was still asleep, and as Harry didn't see Hermione in the common room, he decided to go down to breakfast. He met Hermione in the Great Hall and after breakfast he joined her on her way to library to return some of the books they had read. She got some more books about dragons and phoenixes, and she also checked out a Charms book she needed for some extra research she was doing, and after that they went back to the Gryffindor Tower. Harry wanted to help Hermione with her research on dragons and phoenixes, but she reminded him of the fact that the next day was Monday already and some of their homework was due then already.

Reluctantly Harry started working, especially as he knew that he would most probably be at it for most of the day. Ron woke up a bit later, and he joined them after he had had breakfast. Ron had finished all the urgent homework assignments and for a long time he just sat there with Harry and Hermione, until Ron's constant shuffling around got too much for Hermione and she snapped at him about it. Ron left after that, seeing that Harry would still be immersed in the homework for a long time.

Harry's concentration started to slip towards the evening and while he was thinking about something to add to his Herbology assignment, which was still several inches too short, his mind somehow wandered to the wandless magic he had practised with Hermione. He stared at his ink bottle, as he thought about it, and absently he waved his hand and started levitating the ink bottle – it is amazing how you can sometimes do really difficult things without much of effort if you're just on the right state of the mind for it.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered urgently, grabbed the ink bottle and settled it back on the table.

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and it took him a second to realize what he had been doing and why Hermione had interrupted him. Looking around he saw that no one had noticed that he had levitated the ink bottle without his wand.

"Sorry," he apologized, thought he wasn't exactly sure why he was apologizing to her, but he suddenly realized that he didn't want anyone to know about his wandless magic skill for some reason.

Hermione looked at him for a moment, but then continued reading and scribbling notes on a roll of parchment. Harry was distracted from his homework and he thought about what he had just felt. While he had thought about the wandless magic, he had felt an urge to continue practising it and now he couldn't shake the feeling off. Being able to do wandless magic was cool of course, but there was also something inside him that told him that he should continue with the practising, although he didn't know why. He tried to concentrate on the Herbology assignment again, but the feeling didn't leave him alone and he knew that he had to do something about it, or it wouldn't let him concentrate on anything else.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered to her. She kept her eyes focused on the book she was reading for a second, probably finishing the sentence, before raising his eyes to look at him questioningly.

He looked around to make sure that they weren't overheard before talking. "Are you still continuing with the wandless magic?" he asked her quietly.

She looked at him with surprise for a moment before answering. "Yes. Whenever I have some free time," she said, slightly puzzled.

"Would you mind if I... joined you?" Harry asked a bit uncertainly. He knew that he could continue practising on his own, but she would no doubt be a huge help.

Her eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise but when she answered her tone was normal. "Of course not," she said.

"Thanks," he said and she just smiled in response before continuing to read her book.

Harry found that he could now concentrate on the Herbology assignment again and it didn't take him long to get it to the required length. He sighed tiredly when he ticked away the Herbology essay from the list of things he had to do, noticing that there were still several things on the list and he continued with homework late to the evening.

Harry slept better during the night than he had slept for the two previous nights, and he was very glad about that, since he had to go to classes again and he didn't want to start the day feeling tired already. Ron woke up at the same time as Harry did and they met Hermione in the common room and the three continued to the Great Hall to have breakfast. After the breakfast, they started making their way towards their Herbology class, but they were interrupted by Malfoy and his goons, whom they met just outside of the Great Hall.

"Seen any dragons lately, Potter?" Malfoy said maliciously and Crabbe and Goyle laughed stupidly.

"Piss off, Malfoy," Harry said tiredly. He really didn't feel like seeing the ferret at the moment.

Malfoy ignored his words. "It was a pity that the dragon keepers intervened with the first task, just as it was turning out fun," Malfoy said with a smirk.

Harry didn't have any trouble ignoring Malfoy's words, but Ron reacted as usual and tried to lunge at Malfoy, but fortunately Harry and Hermione managed hold him back, as just at the moment they heard a shrill voice from the direction of the Great Hall.

"Mr. Malfoy! Out of all my years at Hogwarts, that was one of the most despicable things I've ever heard!" said McGonagall with a fierce look on her face that made Malfoy cower under her gaze. "You will serve a week in detention and I will most certainly report this to the Head of your House. Now, off to your classes!" she said angrily.

"Yes, madam," Malfoy squeaked and scampered away with his goons.

McGonagall continued to stare ferociously at Malfoy until he disappeared behind a corner, but then her face softened to a tired expression and she gave a small sigh.

"You too should head to your classes, Miss Granger, Misters Potter and Weasley," McGonagall said to Harry, Hermione and Ron with a normal tone.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione replied and the three continued on their way towards the greenhouses.

"That was brilliant! Did you see his expression? He looked like he was facing a dragon himself!" Ron said excitedly.

"Yeah," Harry agreed dispiritedly and didn't seem very interested about it. He actually couldn't care less about Malfoy at the moment, as long as he didn't have to see him.

Ron was a bit taken aback by Harry's lack of intereset and he lapsed to a silence, which was broken by Hermione. "Lets hurry up, or we'll be late," she said casually.

For Harry the day was a clear improvement to the earlier, when most of the school had been against him, and now he only received some stares from the other students. Of course the stares bothered him somewhat, but Harry realized that he was actually starting to feel much cheerier, now that he didn't have to endure the teasing of the other students. He was also glad to notice that most of the weariness he had felt since getting out of the Hospital Wing was gone and he merely felt a bit tired, but not seriously worn out.

Later that day, as they were just finishing their dinner, Hermione nudged Harry to get his attention.

"You still want to join me for_ you-know-what?_" she asked him in a whisper.

"Yeah, I do," he whispered back, looking around to see that no one was paying them too close attention. He now realized that he had never asked her where she had practised wandless magic on herself and he was looking forward to seeing the place.

"Follow me after dinner, then," she said and they continued eating like nothing had happened. Ron, who had been entranced in his food the whole time, hadn't noticed their whispered communication.

After they had eaten, they left the Great Hall and at first they made their way towards the Gryffindor Tower, but then Hermione turned to a part of the castle where Harry didn't think that he had ever been. No classes were kept in that part of the castle, but then Harry remembered that the room where the Mirror of Erised had been was somewhere around here.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked behind them and Harry and Hermione turned to look at him, startled – they had completely forgotten him. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and Harry just shrugged at her and she nodded to him as a reply.

"Come with us, we'll tell you there," Hermione said to Ron. Ron shrugged his shoulders slightly and followed them.

Hermione led them to a part of the castle where neither Harry nor Ron had ever been before and they entered a room that looked like a classroom from the outside, but inside half of the room was filled with desks, bookshelves and other random furniture and stuff, and it actually looked more like a storeroom than a classroom. The furniture was covered by dust, as a proof that the furniture hadn't been moved for a long time, but the part of the room that was clear of the furniture didn't have any dust on it, and had probably been cleaned by Hermione.

Harry dropped his backpack on a chair to give his shoulders a rest, as he was feeling a bit tired physically, and he looked around the room for a while. Then he turned towards Hermione. "Isn't it against the rules to use a classroom without a permission from a teacher?" Harry asked Hermione, looking at her questioningly. Hermione was usually quite strict about rules, after all.

She got a sheepish look on her face before answering. "Well, technically this isn't a classroom but a storeroom, and there's no rule against using them as long as you don't damage anything, or do anything that is forbidden by other rules," she explained.

"But why are we here?" asked Ron, whom they had forgotten again.

Hermione looked like she was going to explain it to Ron, but Harry interrupted her. "Just a moment, Ron," Harry said, and Hermione frowned at him in puzzlement. She seemed to understand what he was doing, however, when he got a concentrated look on his face and he took a deep breath. He looked at his backpack piercingly and then lifted his arm up; the backpack followed his arm and slowly rose in the air.

Ron reacted just as Harry had expected. "Bloody hell, Harry!" he exclaimed and looked at Harry, surprised. "How did you do that?" Ron asked.

Harry's concentration was broken and the backpack fell back on the chair and he turned to look at Ron. "It's called wandless magic," he replied simply, trying hard not to crack a smile, and Ron seemed even more confused than before. Glancing at Hermione, Harry saw that she was looking amused too.

"Yeah, but... _how_ did you do that?" Ron asked, still surprised.

Harry smiled now. "We've been practising with Hermione for the Tournament. She has actually secretly practised it since our second year and is much better at it than I am. It's not too difficult to learn if you want to," Harry told, although he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted Ron to join with them, for some reason.

Harry was only a bit surprised to see that Ron seemed quite interested, as wandless magic was something cool, despite the fact that what they did could be considered studying and Ron usually wasn't at all interested in it. So, Harry and Hermione started teaching Ron very much like Hermione had taught Harry before the first task and after they had got Ron started with the silent spellcasting exercises, Harry and Hermione started practising the Summoning Charm themselves. Even Hermione couldn't to do that without her wand yet, but they both thought that it would be a very useful spell for summoning your wand, if you dropped it or someone took it away from you – especially so, as you didn't need to see the object you wanted to summon, and it could be very far away from you and the spell would still work, if you were good enough at it.

While they practised, Harry now realized that if he really concentrated on a spell and pushed a lot of his magic on it, he could feel the magic flowing through his fingers to form the spell, just as Hermione had told him on their first lesson, and that very faint, tingly feeling of magic helped Harry to know how he needed to push his magic on the spell he was doing. He had much more success in casting the Summoning Charm silently than he had initially had with the Levitation Charm and he was starting to get a hang of it quite soon, just like Hermione. Then he switched wands with Hermione and they both started trying it silently with each other's wands, and they seemed to be having much more difficulty with that. When they stopped to have a break, they noticed that Ron had become bored and was just sitting there, looking frustrated.

"I don't know how you do it, but I can't do it," Ron complained, when he noticed that Harry and Hermione had stopped practising too.

"It just takes some work, Ron. There is a reason why not everyone studies silent magic or wandless magic," Hermione said to him a bit impatiently.

"It took me a week before I could do a silent Wingardium Leviosa comfortably," Harry added.

"A week?" Ron said, looking horrified. "How long did it take before you could do it wandless, then?" he asked.

"About... three weeks," Harry answered thoughtfully. He was a bit surprised to realize that it had actually been three weeks, as it hadn't seemed like that long time to him.

"And that's just for one spell?" Ron said unbelievingly. "Useless, if you ask me," he added.

"It's not useless, Ron!" Hermione protested. "What if you lose your wand or break it? You're helpless, until you get your wand back, unless you know some wandless magic," Hermione continued enthusiastically, but Ron wasn't listening to her. Instead he was watching Harry intently – or more precisely Harry's right hand that still held Hermione's wand.

"Harry, have you got a new wand?" Ron asked perplexed.

"Huh?" Harry said surprised and looked at his wand, before realizing that he was still holding Hermione's wand. "Oh. No, this is Hermione's wand. We use each other's wands after we've learned to do some spell silently to make it more difficult and to make the leap to wandless magic smaller," he explained.

"You're using each other's wands?" Ron asked and he looked very surprised.

"So what? Some of the students have old wands from their family members," Hermione countered.

"Yeah, but they're _family members_. It's not considered _appropriate_ to use anyone else's wand," Ron told them, giving the word "appropriate" a slight undertone.

"Why not?" Harry asked confused.

"Because they're very personal. It's not appropriate to use someone else's wand if it's not someone from the family, and even then it's not very common. Unless it's an emergency, of course, but otherwise only... married couples might use each other's wands," Ron explained them, hesitating a bit with the last part.

Harry and Hermione subconsciously looked at each other when Ron mentioned "married couples", but they quickly looked away, both blushing a bit.

"That's hogwash," Hermione said firmly. "We're just using them to help us practise wandless magic, nothing else," she added, although there was a slight tone of uncertainty in her voice.

"Well, have it your way, but don't be surprised if someone takes it the wrong way," Ron said, shrugging.

"Come on Harry, let's continue with the Summoning Charm," Hermione said firmly, ignoring Ron, and seemed like she wanted to forget the whole thing.

Harry stared at the wand in his hand thoughtfully for a moment but decided that there was nothing weird about using Hermione's wand. Ron just shrugged but he too continued practising silent spellcasting.

"I think we should get back to the Gryffindor Tower. Its getting late and we still have our homework to do," Hermione said after they had practised for more than an hour.

Harry glanced at his wristwatch to check the time, but then he remembered that the watch had been broken and he didn't have it any more. He thought that he should really check if there were wristwatches sold in Hogsmeade, the next time they had a Hogsmeade weekend.

"Let's go then," Ron said, obviously not very willing to continue with the practise any more.

Harry just shrugged and together they left the room. Harry and Ron weren't exactly sure about the way, so they followed Hermione until they came to a familiar parts of the castle.

"How about a game of chess, Harry?" Ron asked when they were finally in the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione too heard the question, and she looked disagreeing, although she didn't say anything, as she settled to doing the homework they had received that day.

Harry had actually thought about doing his homework too and for a moment he felt split. "Uhm, no, I think I'll get my homework done instead, so I can have the weekend off," he finally said to Ron, feeling a bit uncomfortable about declining the game. He had actually got quite used to doing his school work early, so that he could have the weekends off of it.

Ron seemed a bit surprised at first, but then he looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I think that actually makes sense," he answered, although he was looking somewhat reluctant when he too settled down to start working.

Before Harry started to actually work on anything, he spent a moment lost in though, as he realized that he was actually feeling strangely satisfied with himself and then he remembered the odd craving he had had yesterday for learning wandless magic. He now he realized that it was still there, but it was mostly sated for now, and that gave him a rather pleasant feeling.

The following days Harry, Hermione and Ron spent some time each day to practise wandless magic in the same room, although they didn't spend nearly as much time at it as Harry and Hermione had done before the first task. Every day Harry felt the same satisfaction when they were finished and he also spent some time doing school work, hoping to get most of his homework done before the weekend, so that he could have time off of everything.

Harry was still feeling a bit down, and the wandless magic training was one of the only bright spots in Harry's days. It was obvious that Ron was uncomfortable with Harry being so depressed, as Harry was often looking quite morose and he seemed to be lost in thought a lot and he didn't even appreciate Ron's jokes nearly as much as he had used to. Hermione wasn't very comfortable with Harry's depression either, but she seemed to be mostly bothered by the fact that she didn't know how to help him, and she was sometimes giving him concerned looks and strangely, that didn't irritate Harry like that kind of things usually did.

Harry was also faced with a whole new dilemma, as he sometimes felt split between spending time with Ron and spending time Hermione. He had grown very used to being a lot of time with Hermione, when they had trained for the first task, and now he found himself missing that, especially as Ron now joined with them in their wandless magic training and it didn't feel the same as it did before. But Harry also liked – or at least used to like – spending time with Ron and he sometimes found himself wondering whether to spend his time with Ron or Hermione, although he was quite happy about the fact that usually they were all three together and he didn't have to decide between them very often.

All three of them were tired by Friday – especially Harry, who still had some trouble sleeping – and the double Potions lesson they had that day did nothing to help with that. But despite that Harry and Hermione still wanted to continue with wandless magic after the classes and grudgingly Ron joined them, although it was clear that he would have preferred to do something else instead. He still wasn't able to do even the Levitation Charm silently and it wasn't a surprise when he lost his temper when Hermione had been encouraging him to continue with the practising.

"I just can't do it Hermione! Not everyone is as smart as you are," Ron said irritatedly and his tone made it obvious that he didn't mean it as a compliment, and judging by the angry flush on her face, Hermione didn't take it as a one.

"It's not about being smart or stupid! It just takes concentration and practise to do it," Hermione answered a bit coldly.

"Well, not everyone wants to spend all of their free time doing extra studying. Some people prefer to have fun too," Ron answered angrily, raising his voice somewhat.

"Fine! Go have fun then, if you prefer that. No one's forcing you to be here if you don't want to!" Hermione countered, raising her voice to match Ron's.

Ron didn't say anything, but he just grabbed his backpack and left. He glanced at Harry on his way out, but Harry was looking at Hermione with a sympathetic expression, and he didn't see the dark look on Ron's face. Harry thought that Ron had been a bit out of line with Hermione and he didn't really care about Ron leaving that much.

"Just ignore him," Harry said after Ron was gone. Hermione turned around to look at him in surprise, as that was the advice Hermione usually gave Harry considering Malfoy, but there was no tease in his voice or expression. "There's nothing wrong if you like reading and studying, and you do have fun at times," Harry consoled her.

"I know. He just gets to me sometimes," she said, lapsing in to a short silence. "But lets continue with the Summoning Charm, shall we?" she said lightly with a small smile, obviously wanting to put the incident behind and change the subject.

"OK," Harry answered simply.

That evening they continued almost until the curfew, as they were both ahead with their homework and the little they had to do would be quickly done the next day. When they returned to the common room, Ron wasn't there and instead of going to bed, Harry aimed towards an armchair in front of the fire and sat down and Hermione joined him there, sitting on another armchair near him. Harry was actually thinking about what had happened with Ron and Hermione. He had usually sided with Ron instead of Hermione when the two had had a disagreement, but now he had picked Hermione's side instead and he wasn't exactly sure what to think about it. Harry decided to let it be for a now and see how Ron and Hermione would act with each other tomorrow. Apparently both Harry and Hermione had the idea of getting up and going to bed at the same time, as they stood up at the time and looked at each other. It was Hermione that broke the silence first.

"Well, good night, Harry," she said softly and Harry thought that her voice sounded just a bit sweeter in his ears than usual.

"Good night, Hermione," Harry responded in kind and they both left for their separate dormitories. There was nothing unusual about them wishing good night to each other, but Harry still felt that something had changed, something important and big, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was, and when he fell asleep sometime later, the thought faded into oblivion. But at least he did sleep better than he had slept ever since getting out of the Hospital Wing.

Harry had been right, though something had changed and as often happens with something so obvious and important, in retrospect you wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact moment the change had happened. But still it was there and it made a huge difference in everyday things, despite you not noticing it consciously.

_To be continued..._


	4. The Yule Ball

**Disclaimer**: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

Author's notes:

And here's the fourth chapter, finally.

To demon-sword (and others who wondered about Harry getting out of the tournament): Harry had to participate in the tournament because of the binding magical contract, but in this story he got out because he had a valid reason to be disqualified (ie. failing the first task and also failing to get the egg, which was required to figure out the next task). I basically thought that the contract could be voided and a champion taken out of the tournament for a good reason – think about a champion doing some major cheating or being severely injured (losing a limb or few would probably make the rest of the tasks quite difficult...)**  
**

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 4 – The Yule Ball**

The next morning it was clear that Ron and Hermione hadn't forgotten the argument they had had last night and they were still clearly exasperated by each other, and Harry was afraid that he was going to be caught in the middle of another row between them. During the breakfast the situation got resolved, however, when Ron ate even faster than he usually did and he stood up to go, while Harry and Hermione were still eating.

"See you later Harry... Hermione," he said and his voice got just a bit colder when he said Hermione's name.

"See you, Ron," Harry said to him, but Ron had already left and didn't probably even hear Harry.

"So, what did you think about doing today?" Hermione asked Harry like nothing had happened.

"Well, I would have liked to go flying but it's way too cold already," he said and it was the truth; through the windows they could see that it was sleeting outside. The December had sneaked up on them and with it had come the winter chill.

"Yeah, I would have liked that too," Hermione said and stared morosely outside.

Harry looked at her in surprise. He knew that Hermione had liked it when they had gone flying a couple of weeks back but he didn't know that she really wanted to go flying again. "Really?" he asked her.

She turned her head and focused on him again. "Well, yeah. I kind of liked flying without anyone laughing or showing off. It was quite relaxing actually," she said thoughtfully.

They lapsed into a silence, as they both finished eating and for a moment they just sat there silently, both lost in their own thoughts.

"So, you have no idea what you want to do today?" Hermione asked him after a moment.

"No, not really," Harry replied to her. "Unless you have something?" he asked her. Ron seemed to have gone off to somewhere and Harry decided that he might as well do something with Hermione, if she didn't have any urgent work to do.

She seemed surprised for a moment, but then her expression turned to thoughtful, until her face lit up as she came up with something. "Come on, Harry," she said enthusiastically, standing up. She didn't offer any further explanation, but just started walking out of the Great Hall, and quickly Harry followed her.

After they had walked for a while, Harry realized that she was heading towards the library. He was a bit surprised about that; not that there was anything unusual about Hermione going to the library of course, but she seemed to have got some kind of an idea in her head in the Great Hall and going to library certainly wasn't something he had thought of her coming up with – it was an almost everyday event for Hermione, after all.

She walked straight through the doors of the library, but then she turned and walked towards a doorway and a passage that left from the library. Harry had seen the passage several times – every time he had been to the library, actually – but he had never really been there, although he had a few times wondered what there was and he had thought that it just led to another part of the library.

The passage made a 90-degree turn and it was impossible to see where it led to, but after they had gone round the corner, Harry saw that it led to a large room that was lit brightly with the light coming from several large windows. There were several tables in the room, each having a few chairs around them, and most of the tables had a Wizard Chess set on them, or some other game. There was a pair of students from Ravenclaw sitting in front of one of the tables and they were immersed in a game of chess, but otherwise the room was unoccupied. After looking around the room, Harry turned back to Hermione.

"What's this?" Harry asked her, slightly surprised.

"You've never been here before?" she asked and she in turn seemed to be a bit surprised by that, but then her expression changed to thoughtful. "Well, that's not really a surprise, not many come here," she said thoughtfully.

"But, anyway, this is where they have the meetings of the Chess club and the Gobstones club and some others too, and it's called the Game Room. This room is really open for anyone while the library is open, but quite few actually come here, except for those club meetings," she told him.

"Oh, I've sometimes wondered where that passage from the library led to, but, you know, there are several other places like that in the castle. You see them often, but you just never ask what there is or check it yourself," he answered, trying to explain what he felt.

"I know what you mean. You see those places all the time but you never see anyone going there and you kind of get used to not knowing where they lead to, and when you get used to them, you stop thinking about them and forget them almost completely," she explained and he nodded – it was just like he felt.

"So, what was the idea you had in the Great Hall?" he asked her. Their talk had distracted her – and him too – from the original reason they came to this room for.

"Oh? Oh, yeah. I just thought that I haven't played chess against you for a long time. I think we've played against each other only a handful of times," she said. "And you would be much more even opponent than Ron is," she added and there was just a slight tone of irritation in her voice as a proof that she was still angry at Ron.

"Yeah," Harry chuckled, ignoring her tone. Neither of them really stood a change against Ron in a game of chess. "Well, lets play then?" he half asked and half noted.

They made their way towards a table in one of the corners of the room and there was a large chess set on the table, which made Harry very glad that the Wizard Chess pieces moved by themselves – the large stone pieces must have weighed at least three pounds per piece. The chess set was obviously old and it was very stylised; the pieces were carved with great attention and had plenty of small details. The black pieces were of some shiny black stone and the white pieces were of some light grey stone, that Harry thought might have been marble.

"So, which one of us starts?" Hermione asked when they stopped in front of the table.

Harry thought about it for a second and then he smiled, coming up with something. "Ladies first," he said to her with a grin and she rolled her eyes at that, but she did sit down on the side of the board that had the white pieces.

Harry almost missed it, when he looked away from her as he sat down, but when he looked back at her, he saw that she was smiling a satisfied smile to herself. He briefly wondered what the smile meant, but he soon forgot it, as they ordered the pieces to starting formation and Hermione began the game by moving a pawn two squares forward and, without much of a thought, Harry countered by blocking the pawn by moving one of his own pawns in front of it.

"So, did you have any plans for today?" Harry asked her conversationally as she was thinking her next move.

"Well, I was thinking of going to the library," she said and Harry couldn't help grinning a bit at that. Surprisingly, she grinned back to him, but she sobered before continuing. "And we could practise a bit later, if you want to?" she asked him and she seemed just a bit uncertain. They referred to their wandless magic practising as just "practising" these days.

"Sure," Harry answered.

Just a hint of a smile appeared on her face with his answer and she finally made her second move. Harry started thinking his own move and as he thought, he saw that her expression was thoughtful too, but she didn't seem to be concentrating on the game, and she actually seemed to be a bit bothered about something, although when Harry made his move, she concentrated back on the game.

Harry wanted to break the silence that was starting to get just slightly uncomfortable, so he decided to ask something that would surely spark her interest. "So, have you planned anything for our practising after the Summoning Charm?" he asked and he was actually interested about the topic himself.

Harry could see Hermione's expression change from thoughtful to interested before she answered. "Well, I have, of course, thought about that, but there just seems to be so many useful spells, that it's a bit difficult to choose what would be the most useful and what we should study next. I have made a list of some spells, mostly some practical charms, but I have some trouble deciding on the very next spell," she told him.

They continued talking about that for a moment as they played, and then they continued talking about everything from school work to the weather and Hermione seemed to forget whatever had been bothering her. They were both actually having good time and while neither of them was a very good player, they were quite evenly matched and that made their game more interesting. Harry ended up winning the first game but it was more luck than anything else – when he made the second to last move, he hadn't even considered the possibility of winning the game on the next move, but while Hermione was thinking of her move, he had suddenly realized the move that would win him the game.

They decided to play another game and this one was much longer than the first. They didn't really think about strategy that much, but instead they both concentrated on getting rid of as many of the other's pieces as they could. This game went for Hermione and as the game had lasted quite long, there weren't many pieces left on the board when they were finished.

After playing a few more games, they had lunch and then they went to practise more wandless magic. They didn't meet Ron in the Great Hall and Harry briefly thought of seeing if Ron was in the Gryffindor Tower and asking if he would like to join them, but then Harry remembered that Ron and Hermione seemed to be still angry at each other, and and he thought that Ron would most likely not want to join them. Harry and Hermione had plenty of time for practising that day, as the only piece of homework they had undone was a Potions assignment from Snape, which they had received the day before, and so they continued practising for several hours, until it was dinner time already and after that they returned to the Gryffindor Tower and made the Potions assignment, which ended up taking the rest of their evening.

The next day Hermione's and Ron's animosity towards each other started cooling off and Ron spent much more time with Harry and Hermione than he had done the day before. The weather had been quite awful for the last days and they hadn't really been outside that much, so, as the weather was much nicer that day, they decided to go outside in the morning. Hermione and Ron still acted a bit more polite than usual towards each other and they were a bit uncomfortable about the situation but towards the evening they were mostly back to normal.

* * *

The next week Hermione and Harry again had their schedules full with all the practising they did besides their school work, and they didn't have too much free time. Ron seemed to have taken heed of Hermione's words and he wasn't joining them on that and while the three still spent the classes and meals together, it was obvious that Ron wasn't interested in the extra work of learning wandless magic and he spent that time doing something else. Harry and Hermione didn't actually miss Ron that much as they had become quite used to being by themselves when they practised; it was much more quiet and calm without Ron and they both appreciated that. 

Harry was still feeling down on some days but at least he was sleeping much better than just after the first task, and he was only occasionally woken up by the nightmares any more. But still, he was quite tired some days, and on those days he wished to avoid the other students as much as possible – the noise and commotion that a large group of students always made wasn't very comfortable for someone that was feeling tired and down. Ron and Hermione usually noticed it, but they were much more used to it already and Ron mostly just ignored it. Hermione on the other hand had noticed that Harry was very interested in the wandless magic, and whenever he was looking to be down, she usually spent most of the evening practising with him. He never said anything about it, but he was grateful for her about that.

On the Thursday they got a small shock when Professor McGonagall announced during the Transfiguration class that they would be having a Yule Ball on Christmas Day. Only fourth years and above were allowed to attend to it, but they could bring a partner from any year. Harry was glad that he had been disqualified from the Tournament when he heard that the champions would be obliged to participate and would be opening the event with the first dance of the evening.

"So... what do you think about the Ball?" Hermione asked the boys after the class.

"I think it's brilliant! We get to stay up for the night and there's food and everything," Ron said eagerly. "Glad we don't have to have partners, though," he added scornfully.

Hermione looked at him with something akin to disgust but she didn't say anything. Instead she turned her head to look at Harry to get his opinion about it.

"I don't think I'm going to the ball," Harry said sullenly and Ron turned to look at him with eyes wide in surprise.

"Harry, are you serious? There probably won't be any more occasions like this during our time in Hogwarts and when else do we get to stay up 'till midnight with plenty of food and drink available?" Ron said with disbelief, while it seemed that Hermione had expected Harry's answer and she just looked at him with an unreadable expression.

Harry didn't know what to answer Ron, as he really didn't want to go to the ball, but he didn't want to tell Ron that he still wished to avoid the other students. There was a short silence as Harry thought of an answer for Ron, but Hermione interrupted it before it got uncomfortable. "Well, let's go to lunch," she said and Ron was distracted from thoughts about the Ball.

That evening Harry and Hermione were, once again, in the storeroom practising, and as usual lately, Ron wasn't with them. They were just taking a short break when Hermione brought up the subject of the ball again.

"You sure you don't want to go to the ball, Harry?" Hermione asked him off-handedly, but it was clear that she was more interested about the issue than she wanted to show.

"I am. I just don't feel like being around most of the school, especially in an occasion with dancing and such. Perhaps if it was just for Gryffindor, or something like that, then I might consider going," he told her.

She seemed to consider his words carefully before answering. "Well, then I'm not going either," she said firmly.

"Hermione, you shouldn't stay away from the ball just for my sake," Harry protested. "You should go if you want to. I'm just going to have a normal evening that night and... do something," he said but his words were quite empty and in all honesty he didn't feel like being alone when others were having fun, but he didn't really know what else he could do – he really didn't want to go to the ball, but neither did he want for Hermione or Ron to stay out of it just for his sake.

"I probably wouldn't have fun without you anyway," she said, but then she seemed a bit embarrassed by what she had said and continued quickly. "And Ron would certainly drive me nuts before long with his table manners and everything," she said. "No, I'm staying with you in the tower," she added with finality in her words.

"Well, if you're sure," Harry said, actually feeling kind of glad that she wanted to spend the evening with him, rather than going to the ball. He thought that he was being selfish, though, and he quickly banished that thought from his mind.

That night Harry had trouble falling asleep and the ball wasn't the only thing that bothered him. Lately he had felt that the wandless magic practise wasn't somehow enough, like he was supposed to do something more, but he didn't know exactly what that was. He still felt the satisfaction after the lessons but there was something else that he was lacking and that was causing him to feel restless, and he really didn't know what to do about it.

The ball itself wasn't actually bothering Harry at all, but rather the girls that asked him to it. Just weeks ago he had been the object of almost everyone's animosity, excepting the Gryffindors of course, but now that there was a ball coming, he had already been asked to it by some girls. He always felt somehow uneasy at having to say no to those girls and having to see their crestfallen expressions, but there was nothing else he could do – he wasn't going to the ball and that's what he told to everyone who asked him to it.

Harry also thought that Professor Moody had been paying him more attention than before. Moody seemed to often watch him during their DADA classes and even outside of classes Moody seemed to be around a lot. Harry knew that Moody was considered paranoid by many but he couldn't shake off the thought that Moody somehow knew that something was going to happen and that was another thing that made Harry even more restless – nothing untoward had happened since the first task and Harry was starting to feel like something would have to happen soon, with the person that put his name in the Goblet still at large.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were still trying to find something that would explain the first task and the dragon's behaviour in it towards Harry, and the Saturday morning Harry and Hermione spent in the library in search for clues. So far they had read all the books about phoenixes they had been able to find – there were actually only two small ones in the Hogwarts library – and they had also read much about dragons, but they still hadn't found anything to explain the dragon incident. Ron wasn't with them, but they met Ron during the lunch and Hermione had the idea of visiting Hagrid that day and both Ron and Harry agreed to that; they hadn't visited Hagrid for a long time and, like Hermione said, they could also ask Hagrid whether he had any idea of why Harry had been attacked by the dragon. So, after dinner, the three made their way to Hagrid's hut.

"Who's there?" Hagrid asked when Harry knocked on the door of the hut.

"It's us," Harry replied, knowing that Hagrid would recognize his voice.

Hagrid opened the door and smiled at them. "Good ter see yeh, Harry, Hermione and Ron," he greeted them and ushered them inside. "You want a cuppa?" Hagrid asked them and they saw that he already had the kettle on.

"Yes, please," Harry answered for all of them, as they sat around Hagrid's large table.

"Yeh aren' the firs' uns ter visit today. Rita Skeeter from the Prophet came earlier an' seemed ter be very int'rested about yeh, Harry," Hagrid told, as he got a large mug for each of them and set some of his rock cakes on the table. "A rock cake?" Hagrid asked them.

"Uh, no thanks, we've just had lunch," Hermione answered him.

"Oh, 'course yeh did," Hagrid replied a bit disappointedly.

"So, um, what did you tell her?" Harry asked Hagrid, a bit fearful about what Hagrid had told about him, since Hagrid had a bit of a habit of talking too much.

"Told her the truth, didn' I? Said that yeh've always been a good student, an' never had any trouble with you in the lessons," Hagrid said proudly. "She didn' seem ter be very satisfied 'bout that," he then added with puzzlement.

"Oh, thanks, Hagrid," Harry replied with a smile, but then he turned thoughtful. There hadn't been an article from Skeeter for a long time, but she was apparently still looking for something about him.

"Hagrid? Do you have any idea why the dragon attacked Harry in the first task?" Hermione asked Hagrid, changing the subject.

"Never seen a dragon behave like that in me whole life," Hagrid answered. "Dragons are usually mild-temper'd an' only have a bad name, 'cause they do a lot of damage when they do get mad," Hagrid added fondly, but then he seemed thoughtful. "Didn' Professor Dumbledore tell yeh what he suspected about the firs' task?" he asked them.

"Yeah, he did tell about phoenixes and dragons, but we thought that that seemed a bit mysterious and we have been trying to find if there's anything else," Hermione said.

"Nah, excepting what Dumbledore told, I have no idea o' anything that could make a dragon crazy like that," Hagrid replied to Hermione. Then Hagrid turned to look at Harry, who seemed to be thinking about the first task.

"The past is past an' there's no use in dwelling in it, Harry. Yeh jus' have ter remember ter be careful with dragons in the future, that's all," Hagrid said with a smile.

The kettle started to boil just at that moment, and Hagrid busied himself with the tea, but Harry's mind was back on the first task, and he couldn't help going through it in his mind once again. From the corner of his eye he saw Hermione cast a worried look towards him, and he gave her a small reassuring smile to indicate that he was okay and she seemed to brighten a bit at that.

* * *

The next Tuesday, just after dinner, Harry and Hermione were together in the library again. They had originally planned on going to practise, but then Hermione had remembered that she really wanted to research something that Professor Binns had told them about in their History of Magic class, and, as Ron had already gone off somewhere, Harry had decided to join her there. Harry didn't actually mind it that much, since he could work on his homework there while Hermione did research. They were interrupted by Viktor Krum, who came at their table and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Could I haf a vord vith you?" he asked Hermione.

She unconsciously looked at Harry, who just shrugged at her, so Hermione followed Krum out of the sight, behind a bookshelf. After less than a minute she came back looking quite flushed and Krum walked out of the library looking even more sulkier than he usually did. Hermione settled back down on her chair and continued reading like nothing had happened. She didn't say anything about why Krum had wanted to talk with her and that piqued Harry's curiosity; she usually told him about almost everything she did, especially lately, as they had spent so much time together.

"What did he want?" Harry asked her perplexed.

Hermione looked at him and seemed a bit embarrassed. "He wanted to ask me to the Yule Ball," she said and she blushed a bit more.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise and he just stared at her, mouth open, for a while, until he caught himself at it. "So, um, what did you say?" he asked after his mind had managed to wrap around the fact that Hermione had been asked to the ball by an international Quidditch star.

"I declined of course," she said like it was obvious. "I'm not going to the ball, remember?" she added. Seeing Harry's guilty expression, she knew what he was thinking before he even said anything. "I'd much rather spent the evening with you, _my best friend,_ than with some foreign Quidditch player that I don't even know at all," she said convincingly.

Harry was relieved to hear that, but he wasn't quite sure that she told the whole truth. While she played her part of being indifferent about the ball very well, Harry couldn't shake of the thought that she really would have liked to go to the dance and didn't go only for his sake. Harry felt like he really should make it up to her somehow, but he was at a loss of what he could do for her. He briefly thought of buying her a nicer Christmas present than he had usually done, but it was a bit too late to get her a decent present any more, and he didn't think that that kind of a thing would be enough, anyway.

* * *

During the week, Harry was asked by several more girls to the ball and he had to say no to each and everyone of them, and Hermione too was asked to the ball for a second time, this time by Neville. She seemed very sympathetic and sad at having to say no to the shy Gryffindor who had gathered up his courage and asked her, but Hermione cheered up later, when Neville asked Ginny and she agreed to go with him.

Ron had also managed to anger Hermione again when he had said that he would want to go to the ball with the prettiest girl possible, if he had to get a partner. Ron himself had been hit by Fleur Delacour's Veela charm and hadn't been able to stop himself from asking her to the ball with him. Fleur had declined, of course, and Ron had been really embarrassed about it, especially as the situation was seen by several others. Harry couldn't help thinking of Ron's expression if he heard that Hermione had been asked to the ball by Viktor Krum, who was practically Ron's idol, but he quickly banished that thought, as he thought that it would be a bit vindictive thing to do.

The Friday was finally the last day of the term and Harry was really glad that he could have a couple of weeks off of school. His schedule had been quite full ever since he had started practising with Hermione and despite the fact that he wanted to learn wandless magic, it was still tiring to spent pretty much all the evenings on it. During the holidays, they could spent a few hours on practising each day, and he could still have most of the day off.

Few days before the Christmas, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the common room, just talking and doing nothing. They had just had dinner and they were feeling rather comfortable sitting in front of the warm fire, watching the snowflakes fall through the windows, but suddenly they were startled by a large brown owl appearing in the window.

"Look, Harry! That's the owl I used to send the letter to Sirius," Hermione said, glancing around to make sure that they weren't overheard.

She stood up from her chair and went to the window, and when she opened it, the owl flew in and straight towards Harry, landing on top of Harry's armchair, and offering him the letter it had. When Harry took the letter, the owl took off again and flew back outside through the window. Hermione closed the window and then she sat back down on the same chair she had been sitting on and looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry looked around and made sure that no one besides Ron and Hermione were in the hearing range, before he started quietly reading the letter aloud:

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry that you were injured in the first task, but I was really happy to hear that you were OK and recovering quickly (say 'thanks' to Hermione from me). The papers only told that you were injured but nothing more, except for the rubbish against Dumbledore and the Ministry._

_I also heard that you got out of the Tournament, and while that messes up the plans of whoever put your name in the Goblet, you shouldn't get too complacent about it – messing up one plan doesn't mean that there aren't others. Keep your eyes open and stay out of trouble._

_Keep in touch and write about anything unusual._

_Sirius_

Harry sighed tiredly when he finished the letter. He was already starting to feel paranoid because of Professor Moody paying him extra attention and now Sirius' letter just added to that.

"Not much change of anything happening, is there? I mean, With Dumbledore and Moody around," Ron said, trying to cheer Harry up.

But Harry was reminded of the first task and the fact that whoever had put his name in the Goblet, had almost succeeded already, and Dumbledore and Moody hadn't been of any help. Harry looked at Hermione and saw from her expression that she had similar thoughts, but then she gave him a look that clearly told that she would be there for him. Harry didn't know what Hermione could do to help him, but her concern for him warmed his heart and he felt just a bit lighter.

"Yeah," Harry answered to Ron, although he didn't really agree with Ron. "I think I'll write a reply to him immediately," Harry said, wanting to change the subject.

He was about to stand up and go get some parchment and a quill from his backpack, but then he noticed that Hermione was offering him both of them. "Thanks," Harry said and took the quill and parchment.

She also had a bottle of ink on the arm rest of her chair and Harry dipped the quill in it. He briefly wondered if Hermione always carried some parchment, quill and ink with her, but then he did a mental shrug and started to quickly write a short note to Sirius, saying that he was okay and fully recovered from the first task already. When he was finished, he gave the quill back to Hermione and stood up.

"Ron? You mind if I use Pig?" he asked Ron, as he couldn't use Hedwig to deliver the letter, because Hedwig was too noticeable.

"Of course not," Ron said and he too got up, ready to accompany Harry to the Owlery.

"Wait a moment, I have a letter to send to my parents," Hermione said and she quickly went to fetch the letter from her dormitory.

When she came back, the three of them made their way to the Owlery and when they got there, Ron immediately called out for his small owl. Pig came down to them and started excitedly twittering and flying around their heads, excited about the prospect of delivering a letter. Ron quickly grabbed the owl from the air and held it while Harry tied the letter to its leg.

"There," Harry said when he was finished and Ron released the owl.

"And take it right to the recipient!" Ron said irritatedly to the bird, as it started flying around again. Pig gave one last twitter, before flying out of the window.

"Harry? You mind if I use Hedwig to send my letter?" Hermione asked when Pig was gone.

Harry thought about it for a moment and he actually thought that it might be a good idea, since Hedwig hadn't had anything to deliver for a long time, and she had a tendency to be jealous when Harry used other owls to deliver mail.

"Sure," he answered Hermione and turned up to look for his snowy owl. "Hedwig?" he called, holding out his arm, and soon she swooped down and perched on the offered arm.

He then held Hedwig out to Hermione and she tied the rather lengthy letter she had written to Hedwig's leg. "Thanks, Hedwig," she said when she was finished and Hedwig took off with a hoot.

For a moment all three of them just stood there silently watching as Hedwig slowly disappeared to the darkness of the evening, before returning to the common room.

* * *

On Christmas morning, Harry awoke suddenly, and at first he thought that he had been woken up by a nightmare, but when he opened his eyes, he was startled to see two large green eyes staring at him from a close distance.

"Aagh!" Harry screamed, surprised, but then he realized that it was Dobby.

"Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby said and jumped backwards. Dobby seemed anxious and he was looking around, probably trying to find something to hurt himself with.

"It's okay, Dobby. You just surprised me that's all," Harry said with a conciliatory tone, wanting to stop Dobby from hurting himself. He was also trying to calm down from the surprise of the sudden waking up.

"Dobby is sorry, sir. Dobby is only wanting to visit Harry Potter and wish him Merry Christmas and give him a present, sir," Dobby said and still seemed anxious.

"You came all the way to Hogwarts to visit me?" Harry asked Dobby incredulously.

"No, sir. Dobby is now working in Hogwarts! Headmaster Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs!" Dobby said excitedly.

"Oh," Harry said a bit surprised. He opened the curtains of his four poster bed to get his glasses from the bedside table. When he put the glasses on, he saw that Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville had been awoken by his surprised yelp and they were all staring through gaps in the curtains of their beds.

"Everything okay, Harry?" Seamus asked him sleepily.

"Yeah, it's just Dobby," Harry replied. "You can go back to sleep," Harry added, but Seamus had already spotted a pile of presents at the foot of his bed and opened the curtains of his bed to get a better look at them. All the others noticed their own presents too and busied themselves in opening them.

"But didn't you want to be free, Dobby?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to the house-elf.

"Oh, yes, Dobby is a free elf! Dobby works for Dumbledore sir, and Dobby is even being paid!" the house-elf said happily.

"Oh, that's good, Dobby," Harry said, not knowing what else to say.

"Can Dobby give Harry Potter a present now?" Dobby asked tentatively.

"Of course," Harry replied, feeling bad at not having anything to give to Dobby.

Dobby held out a small package for Harry and he took it.

"I have something for you too, Dobby," Harry said then, turning to his trunk. The first thing he noticed was a pair of old socks, and he quickly took them out and held them out for Dobby. Looking at the socks closer, Harry noticed that it was a mismatched pair, but despite that Dobby snatched the socks happily.

"Thank you, Harry Potter sir! You is very kind! Socks are Dobby's favourite clothes and Dobby has seven now!" Dobby said excitedly and seemed to be only glad that the socks were mismatched.

Harry opened his own package and found a pair of socks inside it – mismatched of course. The other was bright red and the other green. "Uh, thank you, Dobby," he said a bit uncertainly. He pulled the socks on and Dobby squealed excitedly.

"Harry Potter sir is a great and kind wizard!" Dobby said happily, but sobered then. "But Dobby must go to the kitchens now. We is already preparing a Christmas feast!" Dobby said and rushed out of the dormitory.

Harry watched bewildered at the house-elf go, but then he shook his head with amusement and turned his attention to the presents he had at the foot of his bed. The first thing he opened was a large, lumpy package that Harry guessed correctly to be a sweater from Mrs. Weasley. There was also a package with home made mince pies from her. Among the rest of Harry's presents were a bag of dungbombs from Ron, a large selection of sweets from Hagrid and a very handy penknife from Sirius, that could be used to open locks and untie knots. He also got a book from Hermione, titled "_History of Spellcasting: Alternatives of Wands And Magical Words"_. Harry glanced at the content page of the book and discovered that the book told about silent spellcasting, wandless magic, accidental magic, staves, and there was also a chapter about Animagi.

He was actually quite interested about the book, but there was still one present to be opened, and Harry put the book away to look at it later. The last package was a small rectangular shaped one and Harry wondered who it was from. He opened the package to reveal a box with muggle wristwatch and there was also a note in it. Harry had almost completely forgotten his broken watch by now, and he eagerly opened the box to reveal a nice and practical analogue watch that seemed to be already set to correct time. He felt really grateful at whoever had bought him the watch, and as he took the note to read who it was from, the first thing he noticed was Hermione's signature in it. The note just said that she had bought the book to him first, but then she had noticed that he had lost his watch in the first task and decided to buy him another present, as it was something that he really seemed to need.

Harry immediately put the watch on, and it felt a bit weird to him, as he had been so used to the old one, but he was quite sure that he would soon get used to the new one. Harry quickly put on some clothes, including the new Weasley sweater, and with Ron they made their way down to the common room, where Hermione was already sitting and waiting for them.

"Good morning, Harry and Ron," she said cheerfully when she noticed them.

"Good morning, Hermione," Harry and Ron chorused almost equivocally and they grinned at each other.

"Huge thanks for the watch, Hermione," Harry said to her with a smile and he held up his hand to show the watch to her.

Hermione seemed to blush just a tiny bit. "Oh, it's nothing Harry. I just noticed you glancing at your wrist at times and realized that you had lost your watch, so I wrote to my parents to get you one, that's all," she said quickly.

"No, seriously, it's just the kind of watch I wanted and I had almost forgotten the whole thing already," he said to her and she smiled at him.

"Come on, lets go down to breakfast," Ron said eagerly and Harry and Hermione grinned at each other at Ron's appetite.

They went to have breakfast together and after that they spent a long time enjoying their presents in front of the common room fire. Later Harry and the Weasleys had a snow fight outside and for a long time Hermione just watched the fight, but in the middle of the fight, when it was at its fiercest, she joined Harry and Ron against the twins. She managed to surprise the twins and got through a very good hit at both of them before they had time to retaliate. They all returned back to the Gryffindor Tower with plenty of time to get ready for the ball.

Harry was wet from the snow fight and decided to change clothes too, to avoid getting ill, and he joined Ron and the other fourth year Gryffindors in their dormitory. Neville, Seamus and Dean all had dates and they were all very nervous about the ball and Ron felt a bit stupid at being the only one of them to go to the ball without a date, but more than that he lamented his dress robes. They were in a word hideous and perhaps they had been in fashion a couple of centuries ago, but Ron still wanted to go to the ball very much.

The ball was to begin at eight, and a quarter before eight the other fourth year boys went down to the common room to wait for their dates and Harry was left alone in the dormitory. Harry did feel a small bang of disappointment at being left alone, but he rather welcomed the silence and he decided to start reading the book Hermione had given him as a present. He was somewhat disappointed to see that the book really was about the history of spellcasting and there was very little actual information about the alternatives to using a wand and an incantation. He hadn't read for long when there was a knock on the door and he heard Hermione's voice from behind the door.

"Harry? Can I come in?" she asked.

Harry had forgotten that Hermione wasn't going to the ball either, when she had disappeared after the snow fight, but now that he was reminded of it, he felt good at not having to spend the evening by himself.

"Yeah, come in," Harry called to her, surprised at her being there; it was the boys dormitory after all.

When the door opened and she stepped in, Harry was surprised to see her all dressed up. He was even more surprised, quite astonished actually, when he looked at her closer and realized that she was looking really beautiful in her periwinkle-blue robes and her hair done in an elegant knot in the back of her head. She also seemed to have some make-up on, and it seemed that even the way she carried herself was different and Harry thought that she seemed more mature and dignified. She was looking a bit flushed and it only made her look even more charming, and overall Harry thought that she looked simply beautiful.

She noticed the book he was reading and she smiled a bit. "Harry, put on your dress robes," she said, interrupting his thoughts, and he blushed when he realized that he had been staring at her and admiring her looks for a while.

"What? But I'm not going to the ball," he answered thickly.

"It's not for that. Go on, I'll give you some time," she said eagerly and disappeared behind the door again.

Harry thought about it for a moment, but then he decided to do as she told him to. He got the dress robes from his trunk and quickly changed into them and he was very glad to notice that the robes weren't nearly as uncomfortable as they looked and they actually fit him very well.

"You can come in now," he called through the door.

This time when she entered, she was looking just as lovely as before, but now he also noticed that she was carrying something in her hand. Looking at it closer, he thought that it looked like a wizarding wireless.

She put the device on the bedside table near Harry's bed and his assessment was proved correct when she turned a knob on it and it started spouting awful music. She clearly wasn't satisfied with the music and actually seemed disgusted by it and Harry quite agreed with her on that. She quickly turned the wireless to another channel and she repeated that for a few times, until she found a channel that played some old music for dancing. He didn't really recognize the style, but he thought that it was waltz or something like that.

She was apparently satisfied with the music now and she walked to the middle of the room. There were some clothes scattered on the floor and Hermione eyed them with discontent, before using her feet to clear up a space from them. Then she turned to look at Harry.

"You know how to dance, Harry?" she asked him cheerfully.

"Erm, well, not really," he answered a bit hesitantly.

"Come on, I'll teach you. It's not really that difficult," she said enthusiastically.

"Oh, no. I don't... like dancing," Harry answered a bit surprised, though that was the truth – he knew enough about dancing to know that he didn't like it.

"How do you know if you haven't tried? Come on, I promise it's not that bad," she tried to cajole him.

His first thought was to refuse her again, but on a second thought dancing didn't sound so awful, especially as there wouldn't be anyone except Hermione to see him if he messed up or looked like an idiot. He really couldn't refuse, when he remembered the fact that Hermione had stayed out of the ball because of him and now she really seemed to want to dance. It wasn't nearly enough to pay her back for all she had done for him, but at least it was a start.

"Well, OK. But only if you promise not to laugh if I mess up," he said, and slowly and very self-consciously he walked closer to her.

"Of course not," she said seriously. "Now give me your hands," she added eagerly.

He did as she asked, and she took hold of his hands, his right hand on her left and vice versa. She slightly pulled him to get him closer to her and he couldn't help blushing when she put his right hand on her waist. Her cheeks had been pink for the whole time, and Harry thought that she had some kind of pink make-up on her cheeks, but still he could see that her cheeks got a bit darker red too. She put her left hand on his shoulder and held his left hand on her right, lifting it up a bit.

"Forget the music for now, and let's just start with some easy steps," she said and he could hear from her voice that she was slightly embarrassed about the situation too, but despite that she was looking him straight in the eye. She stopped to think for a moment, before continuing. "OK, first take a step forward with your left foot. A small step," she told him.

He felt uncomfortable at looking at her from so close distance, so he turned his head a bit to the left to look somewhere over her shoulder as he listened to her, but he did as she told and carefully he stepped a small step forward, fearing that he was going to step on her foot. She anticipated his move, however, and stepped backwards to make space for him.

"Now, slide your right foot next to your left one and then continue sliding it to the right, without stopping, and then step down with it and slide your left foot next to it," she told him and her embarrassment seemed to be mostly gone, as she concentrated on instructing him.

He had to stop to think about it for a second, but then he did as she asked and again she mirrored his moves. He couldn't help watching down at his feet, but she didn't say anything about that and when he was done with the moves, he looked back up to her.

She was still flushed, but she was also smiling snow. "Good. We're half way done and now we just repeat the same thing backwards. I take a step forward and you step back with your right foot, and then you slide your left foot back and to the left," she told him.

"OK," he breathed, still feeling quite uncomfortable at being so close to Hermione. When she started stepping forward, he took a quick step backwards.

"Bit shorter steps," she advised him, as he slid his left foot back and to the side, and then brought his right foot next to it, and they were now in the position they started from. He was quite surprised at how easy it seemed.

"And that's the whole thing. It's called the Box and its one the basic steps of Waltz," she told him. "You think you got it?" she asked him then.

He thought about it for a second before answering. "Uhm, yeah, I think so," he said a bit uncertainly.

"Well, lets try it again, then. Just start when you're ready," she told him.

He went through the steps in his head, before taking a careful step forward again and she stepped backwards to make room for him. He did the slide with his right foot and brought his left foot next to the right to finish the motion.

"That's good, Harry," she said encouragingly. "And now backwards," she added, before she started stepping forward, but this time Harry started taking a step backwards with the wrong foot and she almost stepped on his toes, before stopping.

"Uh, sorry," Harry said, feeling embarrassed at messing up with something so simple.

"That's OK, Harry, it takes some practise. Lets just try it again from the start," she said patiently.

He was actually feeling a bit light-headed about the weirdness of the situation, and he let out a breath before starting again. This time they managed go through the whole thing correctly.

"Very good, Harry," she said with pride. "Now, lets try to repeat it a few times in a row. When you've done the whole Box, just start another one immediately afterwards," she said to him.

He took a breath to calm himself down again, trying to get rid of the embarrassment and discomfort he felt, and he managed at it somewhat. Then he started to move again, and this time it went much better and he managed to repeat the whole Box several times.

"See? It's not that difficult," she said to him with a smile, as they were still continuing to dance. "Let's try it with the music now," she said, stopping, and she took a moment to think before continuing. Harry now realized that the wireless was still playing music, but he had forgotten that, as he had concentrated on the steps.

"Okay. The Box is divided to two parts with three beats for each part. The first beat is when you take a step forward, the second is when you slide your right foot and the third is when you take the side step. The second part is that backwards," she told him.

He thought about it for a moment and he wasn't exactly sure if he got it, but he thought so, although he wasn't sure that he could make out the rhythm of the music. "Uhm, yeah, I think I got it," he said uncertainly.

"Well, lets try it then," she said, smiling. "I'll count 'one, two, three' to the rhythm of the music at first to make it easier. Start with a one, whenever you're ready," she added.

She was silent for a moment, but then she started counting aloud. "One, two, three, one, two, three," she counted steadily.

Harry let her repeat it three times, until he thought that he was ready and after the next "three" he took a step forward, finishing it just when she said the next "one". He had more trouble with the next part, though, and by the time she said "two", he was still sliding his foot.

"Oops... sorry," he said and stopped, when he realized that he had botched it up.

"That's OK. Let's just try it again," she said encouragingly and she started counting again.

This time he managed to stay in the rhythm for the first part, but when it was time to take a step backwards, he stopped to think about it for a second and she almost ended up stepping on his foot again. She didn't seem to care about him messing up again, and she just encouraged him to try it once more, and when he did, they managed to go through the whole Box without any incidents.

"Lets just continue doing it repeatedly until you get a hang of it," she said and then she continued counting again.

After they had gone through the Box about a dozen times, Harry was starting to get more comfortable with it, and when Hermione stopped counting, he continued dancing and managed to stay in rhythm with the music.

"That's great, Harry!" she said, obviously proud of him, after they had gone through the whole Box for a few more times and he had managed to stay in the rhythm. He smiled at her, as they still continued repeating it.

"Lets stop for a while," Hermione said after a moment. She let go of his hands, walked to his bed and sat down on it. He joined her but he left a large space between them and sat on the other end of the bed. They were both still flushed, but they had both mostly got over the embarrassment already.

"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" she asked, looking at him with a small smile.

"Well, no, but there must be loads of more difficult steps," he answered thoughtfully.

"Yes, there are, but most of the common dances don't have much more difficult steps than these are. The most difficult thing, at least for me, is to get the steps into your subconscious mind, so that you don't have to think about them all the time and can just go with the music," she told him.

She then turned her head to his bedside table that held a pitcher of water and a glass on it. She poured a full glass, before taking it in her hand, but then she stopped just before it reached her lips. "You don't mind if I drink from your glass?" she asked, seeming just slightly embarrassed.

"Uhm, no, I won't," he replied and she smiled at him, before lifting the glass on her lips and starting to drink. The strangeness of the situation hit Harry again and made him feel slightly uncomfortable – he had trouble believing that he was practising to dance with Hermione in the boys dormitory. Some slightly scary thoughts started entering his mind, as he looked at her, and he was really glad when Hermione interrupted his thoughts.

"You want some?" she asked him when she had stopped drinking, but then she blushed a bit. "Some water, I mean," she added quickly.

"Please," Harry said, ignoring her stumbling with words.

She filled the glass from the pitcher again, before offering the glass to him and he took it gladly. He was actually feeling quite thirsty and he ignored the slight weirdness he felt at drinking from the same glass with Hermione. He drank the glass almost empty, before giving it back to her, and she put it back on the bedside table, and they just sat there in thoughtful silently for a moment.

"You still think you don't like dancing?" she asked him with a small smile.

Harry thought about it for a moment and realized that it hadn't been nearly as bad as he had thought dancing would be. If there had been other people to stare at him, it would have been awful and he would have been really embarrassed about it, but the dancing itself wasn't that bad. He actually wasn't sure what he exactly felt about it; he didn't really dislike dancing with Hermione, but he felt somewhat uncomfortable about it.

"Uhm, well, I'm not exactly sure what to think about it," he answered her thoughtfully.

She stood up and smiled at him. "Lets continue for a while and perhaps that'll help you decide?" she half-asked and she walked back to the middle of the room, looking at him expectantly.

He hesitated just for a second, before he decided that he might as well continue dancing with her. "Okay," he replied and got up. A bit uncertainly he made his was closer to her but then he stopped and blushed, when he was supposed take the dancing position again.

"Oh, honestly," she said with an amused chuckle, taking hold of his hands and putting the right hand on her waist and keeping a hold of the other one, and he gave her a slightly sheepish look.

Hermione continued teaching him for what felt like a long time and she taught him some more steps besides the Box – turning around and moving forward while dancing – and he had much more trouble with those. They were both mostly over their embarrassment already, but still, Harry didn't feel totally at ease about the whole thing. They continued until they were both starting to get sleepy and they finally separated from each other when Hermione gave a long yawn – it was already past eleven and it wouldn't take long before the ball ended and everyone would start returning to their Houses.

"I think it's about time to get to bed," Hermione said when she finished yawning.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, and he was a bit surprised to notice that he wouldn't have minded continuing for some more.

"Well, good night, Harry," she said with a smile, and for a split second she just looked at him, but then she suddenly stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him for a hug. "And thank you, I had good time," she whispered softly to him, before letting go of him.

"Good night, Hermione," Harry said to her with a smile of his own and she took the wireless she had brought and left towards the door of the dormitory. She opened the door, but then she turned around to look at him again and she gave him a bright smile, before stepping out of the door and closing it behind her.

Now that Hermione was gone, Harry finally let his mind wander to the things that he hadn't let it wander to while Hermione had been there – it was just too scary to think about with her present. He now acknowledged that she had been really beautiful, dressed up like that, and that he really enjoyed her company too, even when doing some less fun things like studying or dancing. He didn't quite know what to make of his feelings about her, and he continued thinking about them, as he got undressed and got to the bed. For a long time he just laid there on his bed, thinking, and he could hear the other fourth year Gryffindors return to the dormitory, get undressed and go to bed too. Just when his mind finally started acknowledging the fact that he seemed to have developed a crush on his best friend, he finally drifted off to sleep.

_To be continued...  
_

* * *

Some more author's notes:

About Harry's watch: According to canon, Harry had a watch (it was broken in the second task), but as far as I know, there has been no information about where Harry got the watch, nor if it was a muggle watch or a magical one. Thus I have presumed that simple electronic devices, such as watches, work in Hogwarts, despite there being lots of magic around.

Alas, I don't know when the next chapter will be out, since it is probably going to take a lot of work, with interesting things finally starting to happen in it, but I'm hoping to get it edited in a week.


	5. Unravelling

**Disclaimer**: not mine, just playing on J. K. Rowling's sandbox.

AN: Hi! I hope you haven't completely forgotten me already. I'm sorry for the chapter taking so long, but here it is finally. There's too many reasons for the delay with this chapter to list them all, but suffice to say that real life has been intervening with my writing, and I also had some trouble with finding the motivation to work on this story. Fortunately, one day, I just happened to read ahead what I had written, and reading the end of this story really rekindled my fire to get the story edited and posted for others to (hopefully) enjoy it.

Alas, some of the following chapters require quite a lot of editing too, since I have decided to do some changes to the story (nothing really major, but still things that take some work), thus there might be some further delays, but I'll try to post _at least_ one chapter in every two weeks.

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 5 – Unravelling**

The next morning Harry woke up feeling quite sleepy, not knowing what had woken him up, and for a moment he tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use, as his body seemed intent on waking up. So, a bit grudgingly, he got up from his bed, put on some clothes, and left the dormitory. In his sleepy state he didn't immediately remember what had happened the night before, but when he made his way down to the common room, he automatically glanced around the room to see if Hermione was in there. She was nowhere to be seen, and he thought that she was probably already in the Great Hall at the breakfast, and thinking about Hermione also reminded Harry of something else, although for a moment he couldn't quite grasp what. Then he was suddenly struck by the memory of last night and he was quite shaken to remember his feelings about Hermione. He had to sit down to think about it, and for a while all his brain managed was to admit that Hermione had looked really beautiful last night. Then he realised that she was so much more than just that; she was a brilliant witch, his best friend, and he also really liked her company – it seemed that he really _had_ developed a crush on his best friend.

Harry had no idea what to do about his feelings and he actually felt somewhat scared about them, because he didn't think that he was supposed have that kind of feelings for a friend of his, especially as she probably didn't feel the same – he was almost certain that he would have noticed if she felt like that about him. He quickly came to the conclusion that there was basically two things that he could do; he could either tell her about his feelings, or try to suppress and ignore them. The first option was too risky, because if she didn't feel like that about him – which was very likely, he thought – she would most probably feel weird about it or even hate him for feeling like that about her, and thus he reached the easier decision of just ignoring his feelings for now, although there was a small voice in the back of his mind saying that he was being a coward for doing that. Still, he was sure that that was the reasonable thing to do, since he could still look for any hints that Hermione might be interested in him as something more than just a friend.

Harry was suddenly reminded of the crush he had used to have on Cho Chang, but now he realised that he hadn't felt like that about her for a long time. He had seen her a couple of times lately, mostly during the meal times in the Great Hall, and she was still just as pretty as she had ever been, but he didn't feel anything special about her anymore. He now realised that he didn't even really know Cho Chang at all, and he thought that he had been stupid about crushing on her. The fact that he didn't have that crush anymore, made Harry quite certain that his crush on Hermione would pass too if he just managed to ignore it for long enough. That thought, however, caused a faint feeling in him that he couldn't quite place, except for it being something akin to sadness, but he wasn't exactly sure what to make of it, so he just ignored the feeling for now.

As he continued thinking about the matter, he realised that last night Hermione had been wearing a fancy dress, and she had also had her hair done and some make-up on, and he thought that he wouldn't probably have any trouble in ignoring his feelings now that she was back to her normal shelf – she was just Hermione, his best friend, after all.

With that in mind, Harry headed out of the Gryffindor Tower and towards the Great Hall to have breakfast, and he was only slightly dreading the possibility of meeting her there. He briefly wondered if she would bring up the subject of the last night, and what she would say about it, but he decided that there was no use in dwelling on that, since he would most probably meet her soon.

When he got to the Great Hall, he saw that Hermione was indeed there, and she was eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Harry was a bit annoyed to notice that he was starting to feel really nervous about meeting her, and he tried to push the nervousness away by reminding himself that it was just Hermione, his best friend, and that there was no need to feel nervous about meeting her, even if she was a girl, and a pretty one at that. When he was just a couple of steps from the table, she heard him approaching and turned to his direction.

"Good morning, Harry," she said cheerily with a small smile, when she saw him, and Harry's stomach did a nasty flip-flop – Hermione was looking just as pretty as she had looked the night before!

Harry's mind started racing and with a start he realised that Hermione was really pretty even without fancy dresses or make-up and that she had changed a lot since their first year, but somehow he hadn't really noticed the change in that way. But then he quickly brought himself back to the present, because he had no time to think about that now, as he had to answer her.

"Good morning, Hermione," he replied quickly and he thought that his voice sounded awful (had it always been like that?) and he could also feel that he was blushing just a bit. She didn't seem to notice anything off, however, and he sat down next to her, making sure that there was at least a few inches separating them on the bench, and quickly he started gathering some breakfast on his plate to distract him from thinking about her.

He couldn't help it, though, and he found himself wondering how he had never noticed how pretty she actually was; her face was of a lovely shape, she had always had very nice and smooth skin, her eyes were very nice shade of brown, and even her hair looked cute on her and it somehow fit her other features very well, despite being somewhat bushy and perhaps not something that most people would consider beautiful. But the best feature of her looks was easily her smile and the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, especially when she was truly happy about something.

Thinking about her smile made Harry's thoughts stray on her lips and he suddenly caught himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her, and that thought shocked Harry so much that for a second he was caught in a vertigo. With all his willpower he tried to wrench that thought out of his head, as he thought that it most definitely was not appropriate at all to think something like that about a friend! He could feel himself blushing more and quickly he started searching for something to distract him from the disturbing thoughts, that would surely drive him out of his mind, if he didn't find something else to think about – especially as Hermione was right next to him.

He looked around, finally letting his eyes rest on the windows and the scene he could see through them. He took deep, calming breaths, as he tried to push the thoughts out of his head, and he could feel himself calming down, as he noticed the serene view outside and continued watching it. There were light clouds in the deep blue sky, and they were painted in a mixture of colours from yellow to purple by the rising sun, and the fresh snow on the ground and trees was bright white and faintly reflected the light of the sunrise, while everything seemed perfectly still without a wind and with no one to disturb the scene. For a moment Harry just stared at the view, captivated by it, but soon he was interrupted by the sound of Hermione's voice, and he turned to look at her.

"Harry? How about we go for a walk outside?" she asked, looking at him, and he noticed that she seemed to be quite cheerful this morning. "The weather seems very nice, although I think it's quite cold," she added, turning to look through the windows, with a far away expression.

"Uhm, yeah, that sounds good," Harry answered without a thought and turned his attention back to staring outside and eating, as he was having a bit of trouble watching at her, with what he had just thought about her.

She seemed to have already eaten and she was just sitting there, waiting for him to finish. "It's so good that we finally mastered that Summoning Charm wandlessly and can continue with other spells," she said conversationally. "What do you think about practising the Alohomora Charm next? It could be useful in many situations," she asked him.

"Oh, uhm, yeah, I think that's good," he replied to her and he didn't exactly turn to look at her as he did. From the corner of his eye, he could see her expression turning to slightly puzzled and he cursed himself for not being able to act normally, and he really hoped that she wouldn't ask if there was something bothering him. He could always say that he hadn't slept well – and that was somewhat true – but that wouldn't really explain him blushing at odd times.

Fortunately for him, Hermione didn't speak any further while he quickly ate the rest of his breakfast, which didn't take very long since he wasn't exactly feeling hungry at the moment. While eating, he managed to get his thoughts in control, at least somewhat, and when he was finished, he turned to look at her, feeling just a small flutter in the bottom his stomach.

"Shall we go then?" he asked her, trying to appear cheery, and he thought that he succeeded quite well in that.

"Yeah, let's just get our coats first. We don't want to catch a cold now, do we?" she said and ended with a small smile, as they stood up from the table and started walking out of the Great Hall.

"Oh, I guess not," he replied. "Perhaps if it was a school day, but definitely not during a holiday," he added with a neutral tone, thinking that the best way to get rid of the weirdness he felt was to joke a bit. When she turned to look at him with a disapproving expression, just like he had expected, he smiled at her.

She huffed at first, but then she too smiled, shaking her head a bit, knowing that he was just having her on, and they continued walking in a comfortable silence.

"Right, let's just get our coats and meet down here?" Hermione asked him, when they entered the Gryffindor Tower.

"Okay," he replied, and they separated to go to their dormitories. Just a moment later they both returned to the common room at the same time, and they met at the entrance to the room.

"Let's go then," Hermione said, and they started walking in silence. They had just got out of the Tower, and were walking along a corridor towards the entrance hall, when Hermione broke the silence.

"Have you thought of anything you want to do today?" she asked him.

"Oh, uhm, not really," he replied. "I just thought that we could play chess, and practise for most of the day," he added, telling her what he preferred.

"Yeah, that sounds okay, but I also want to study ahead some the spells were going to have in Charms and Transfiguration the next term, and, well, I doubt you're interested in that?" she asked him, slightly uncertainly.

He thought about it briefly, and he decided that he wouldn't really mind spending the time with her, even if it was studying. "Oh, I don't mind really," he replied. "I could join you, if that's okay with you?" he asked.

"Really?" she asked a bit surprised. "You don't have to do that, you know, but it's fine if you want to," she added.

"Well, that wouldn't really matter that much, would it? We need to learn the spells anyway, and usually just the classes aren't enough for that, at least for me, so I would most likely end up spending some extra time on them anyway. Doesn't really matter whether I spend it now, or later," he reasoned.

There was a short pause, as he thought about it, before continuing. "Is that why you're almost always the first to learn the new spells? Because you spend some extra time on them beforehand?" he asked her questioningly.

"Well, yeah," she replied a bit sheepishly. "I know we aren't supposed to study ahead on our own – except for the theory, that is – but there are just so many interesting and useful spells, that I just want to learn them immediately when I read about them," she told him.

"Oh," he replied simply, as they stopped in front of the door outside, in the entrance hall. He opened the door, and held it open for her – something that made her smile at him – and they stepped outside to the cold morning air, before he continued speaking. "Well, I really won't mind studying ahead with you, so I guess I'll join you then," he said distractedly, because he had just noticed the beautiful play of the colours in the sky again.

He heard her reply with an "okay", but almost all of his attention had been captivated by the sky. He had been quite distracted by his thoughts when he had watched the sunrise at the breakfast, but now he noticed that for some reason he felt slightly sad at the view, especially as the sun had risen fully above the horizon by now, and the scene wasn't so impressive anymore. It was still beautiful to watch, but some of the colours had disappeared, and now the most striking feature of it was the blindingly bright, yellow of the sun. He was brought back to the present by Hermione's voice, and he noticed that they had already walked some distance from the castle.

"Harry? Are you okay?" she asked, and when he turned to look at her, she was looking just slightly concerned.

"Yeah, I am," he replied and smiled to reassure her. "I just... it's a bit silly actually," he said uncertainly, feeling slightly foolish about his feelings.

"Tell me?" she asked him softly.

"Well, I just noticed the sunrise while we ate breakfast, and it was somehow so... beautiful and impressive that I feel kind of sad about it, though I don't know why," he told her, feeling somewhat embarrassed, but also puzzled.

"When did you get so deep?" she asked softly in an amused tone, and with a smile. It wasn't a teasing smile, but rather something that he couldn't quite place, although he thought that it looked sweet on her. But then she sobered before speaking again. "You've never felt that before?" she asked a bit surprised, but continued before he had time to answer "I have sometimes, several times actually, and I guess it's just one of those weird things in life; some things can be so beautiful they hurt," she told him, and he could detect a trace of embarrassment in her too.

"Yeah, that's how it felt," he replied thoughtfully. "I think I have heard that expression, but I haven't really understood it before," he added wistfully.

"Now the sun has risen, and it looks different, and it is still beautiful, but not as much as it was just a moment ago, and..." he continued after a second, speaking his thoughts directly, but he trailed off when he couldn't find the words.

"And you still have the memory of it?" she suggested.

"Yeah, exactly," he said. "And that just isn't enough," he added dreamily.

They lapsed to another silence, and Harry suddenly felt stupid at talking about something like that with her. But that lasted only for a brief moment, before it was replaced by a feeling of weirdness, although it was a positive feeling. He also noticed that at that moment, he felt closer to Hermione than he usually did, like their talk had somehow brought them closer together, and he also realised that for some reason he felt better and lighter than he had felt for some time.

Both occupied by their thoughts, they continued walking in silence for a moment, and Harry started feeling slightly cold – the weather was quite chilly, just like she had predicted. It wasn't really unpleasantly cold, as the sun somehow made it feel warmer, even if its rays didn't really warm in the middle of the winter.

As they approached the lake, and started walking along the shore, Harry's previous feelings started somehow weighing on him, and he suddenly felt the need to return to normalcy.

"So, what spells did you think of studying today?" he asked Hermione to get them talking again.

She had been thoughtfully staring in front of her, but now she turned to look at him, and her features changed to enthusiastic and interested, just as always happened when the subject of studying was brought up with her, and she started telling him about the spells they would soon have in their Charms and Transfiguration classes. And just like that they were back to normal, and Harry had all but forgotten the discomfort he had felt earlier because of his crush on her.

* * *

After the walk they went to play chess, and then they spent the rest of the day practising wandless magic and learning ahead spells for Charms and Transfiguration, that Hermione had already memorised but not practised yet, and so it was after dinner when they finally returned to the Gryffindor Tower. When they entered the common room and glanced around, they saw Ginny sitting in an armchair, and she seemed to brighten up when she noticed them, and she immediately stood up and started walking towards them. 

"There you are Hermione, I've been looking all over for you," she said with some excitement, when she got nearer to them. "Could I talk with you for a moment?" she asked Hermione, but then she turned towards Harry. "It'll only take a moment," she added to him and Harry noticed that she seemed to be very eager to talk with Hermione.

"Sure," Hermione replied, giving Harry a glance that he interpreted to mean "I'll be right back".

Hermione followed Ginny to an unoccupied corner of the room, and Harry couldn't help feeling somewhat curious about what the girls were talking about, but he didn't want to invade their privacy, and he looked around the room for a distraction. He noticed Ron sitting in one of the armchairs in the room, and to Harry's surprise, Ron seemed to be doing homework, despite there still being plenty of time to do it before the classes started again. Harry and Hermione had, of course, finished all of their Christmas homework already, but Ron didn't usually touch his homework, before he had to. So, Harry made his way towards Ron and he managed to startle him when he abruptly sat down on an armchair next to Ron's.

"What's got into you? Doing homework with more than a week to spare?" Harry asked Ron with a grin.

"Oh, I just thought I'd get started early. You know, to have more free time later," Ron replied and seemed to be just slightly uncomfortable about something.

"Well, good for you," Harry said distractedly, as most of his attention had been diverted back to Hermione and Ginny; from the corner of his eye he had seen them talking, and he had absently noticed that Ginny seemed quite excited about something, but the thing that really got Harry's attention was Hermione blushing when Ginny said something – Hermione usually wasn't the one to blush.

"Yeah," Ron replied and he too seemed to have noticed Ginny and Hermione talking. "What are they up to?" he asked Harry.

"Dunno," Harry replied with shrug.

"Uh-oh, they're coming this way. Better take my books away before Hermione throws a parade or something when she notices me doing homework," Ron said darkly, when he noticed Hermione and Ginny heading their way, and started quickly gathering his books and supplies.

Harry felt a bit irritated at Ron talking Hermione down like that, and he shot Ron a dirty look, but Ron didn't even notice it as he quickly left towards the boys dormitories with his stuff, just before Hermione and Ginny reached them.

"See you, Harry," Ginny said cheerfully when she passed him and she continued on her way towards the girls' dormitories.

"See you," Harry replied after her quickly, but he wasn't exactly sure if she heard him.

Hermione didn't say anything, though, as she sat down on the armchair that Ron had vacated, next to Harry's chair, and he noticed that she seemed to be still just slightly flushed. She also looked to be deep in thought.

"Uhm, so, what did she want to talk about?" Harry asked her after a moment.

Hermione turned to look at him, and she needed a second to grasp what he had said, before she answered. "Just some girl talk," she replied evasively.

"Oh, okay," Harry replied with a feigned indifference, although he was actually curious to know what had made Hermione blush like that. But he didn't want to seem intrusive, and so he let the matter be.

For a moment they both just sat there in silence, Hermione being lost in thought and Harry observing her from the corner of his eye, but then he decided that he might as well go and get the book Hermione had given him as a Christmas present and continue reading it. When he stood up to go, Hermione turned to look at him questioningly.

"I'll just go and get a book to read," he told her.

"Okay," she replied with a distracted nod and returned to her thoughts.

Harry went up to his dormitory and when he returned with the book, Hermione was still sitting there with a thoughtful look, but when she noticed him returning, she turned to look at him and she smiled a bit when she saw the book he was carrying, and Harry couldn't help responding to the smile. As Harry sat down to read, he wasn't able to concentrate for a moment, because he thought that Hermione seemed to be bothered by something and he was mostly paying attention to her instead of the book, but just as he was thinking of asking her about it, she sighed and got up.

"I'll be right back," she said and she left towards the girls' dormitories and disappeared up the stairs, just to appear a moment later, now carrying a couple of large books, parchment, ink and a quill with her, and she returned to the armchair she had been sitting on.

As she settled to read and scribble some notes, she seemed to forget whatever had been bothering her and Harry too could now concentrate on his reading, and he quickly forgot everything else around him, as the book turned out to be quite interesting. He didn't even really notice Ron returning a moment later and sitting down on another chair close to them. Ron sat with them for a while, but then he seemed to get bored with both Harry and Hermione being immersed in reading or taking notes, and he left them just a few minutes later.

Harry lost the sense of time, as he continued to read the book, but some time later he was interrupted by a frustrated sigh from Hermione. He turned to look at her and he saw that she was reading a large book about magical creatures, or so it seemed, judging by the pictures he could see in the book, and looking at it closer, he noticed that she was reading about house-elves in particular.

She hadn't noticed him looking at her, so Harry continued observing her for a moment, lost in thought. Her expression was clearly frustrated and Harry was quite sure that she was doing some research for the SPEW, and it didn't seem to be going too well. His mind wandered, though, as he continued to observe her, and he was soon wondering again how he had never noticed how pretty she actually was, and he smiled to himself unconsciously.

When he noticed where his thoughts had strayed to, and realised that he had been staring at her for while, he quickly turned his gaze back to the book he was reading, despite not being able to concentrate on it at the moment. Instead he scolded himself for staring at her like that, and after that he found himself thinking about the whole SPEW thing. He couldn't help wondering if Hermione was going at the whole house-elf issue the right way, and for a moment he thought of talking about it with her, but then he decided to give the matter some further thought and bring it up with her later, if she still continued with it. Having that decided, he couldn't help watching her from the corner of his eye again for a moment, but soon he managed to concentrate on the book again.

When Harry went to bed that evening, his mind was occupied by the past day and especially his crush. He was very glad that he had mostly got past the uneasiness he had felt in the morning, and he had managed to get through the day without any problems about being in her presence. He had also been paying more attention to Hermione than what he usually did, but despite that he hadn't noticed any indication that she might harbour feelings similar to his, and he decided that he'd just have to continue hiding his crush for now, looking for hints about her feelings. Very briefly he thought of doing something to try to get her to fall for him – acting differently in her presence, being nicer to her and such – but then he realised that he didn't want to deceive her like that. And even if he would have managed to get her to fall for him like that, then what would have happened when he returned to his old, real shelf? Surely he didn't want to go on acting for the rest of his life. No, instead he decided to just be himself and continue being her friend, and see where that would lead to, although he wasn't totally sure if he _could_ act totally normally in her presence anymore.

* * *

The next day, something happened that got Harry's mind off of his crush, at least for a while. He had woken up quite early again and he met Hermione in the common room, feeling quite good at seeing her the first thing in the morning, and together they had made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They hadn't eaten for long when they were interrupted by a swarm of owls that flew inside to deliver the Daily Prophet and one of them brought Hermione one. 

"You're still getting that?" Harry asked Hermione with an obvious dislike towards the paper.

"Well, what better way to know what kind of lies they publish next?" she asked him rhetorically, as she opened the paper. She started to read through it, and soon her face twisted to a scowl.

"Ugh, she's written another article," she said with disdain. "Here," she added and held the paper closer to him to give him a better view of it.

Harry still had to lean in closer to her to be able to actually read the paper, and he could feel a slight fluttering in his stomach about being so close to her, but he just tried to ignore it the best he could. He immediately noticed a large article in the inner page that mentioned him in the headline, and it was written by Rita Skeeter, of course.

"Harry Potter Disrespects an Esteemed Wizarding Tradition," Harry read the headline aloud, puzzled.

"Oh, it's just a bunch of rubbish about you not being in the Yule Ball," Hermione said scornfully.

"– blatant dismissal of a highly esteemed tradition, that shows that Harry Potter has no respect for the traditions of the magical world," Harry read aloud from the article. "Was the ball really that important?" he asked then, turning to look at Hermione with genuine curiosity.

"Well, it is a tradition with the Triwizard Tournament and the champions are expected to take part in it, but there's no reason why you couldn't stay out of it, since you weren't a champion anymore," she told him. "She's just made it seem like a huge thing, when in fact many other students stayed out of it too," she added with a slight huff.

"Great," Harry said morosely, looking around the Great Hall inconspicuously to see if he was already being stared at. There weren't too many people there, that early on a day without classes, and it was impossible to say what most of the school would think about the article yet, but at least there weren't any stares or glares sent at his direction.

"I think she was just frustrated with the lack of anything real to publish," Hermione said mostly to herself.

Harry sighed tiredly. "Yeah, I guess so," he then replied noncommittally.

Hermione's features softened to sympathy. "I don't think too many people are going to care about the whole thing, you know. You weren't the only one not to go to the Ball, and it really isn't such a big thing," she consoled him and he realised that she was probably right, and he felt a bit lighter, despite there being a small part of him that always feared for the worse, and was expecting the other students to ridicule him about the article.

Glancing around the Great Hall once more, Harry saw that there really wasn't a singly stare sent his way. "I really hope so," he replied in a little cheerier tone.

It turned out that Hermione was right about the newspaper article and it just seemed to blow over without anyone paying too much attention to it, and Harry was really glad that he didn't have to endure being at the centre of the attention of the whole school again. While he was sure that Malfoy would have had some comments to make about the article, even if it was quite lame, they didn't happen to meet during the following days – fortunately the castle was large, and change encounter with someone from other House was quite rare during holidays, especially as Harry and Hermione spent a lot of time practising, or reading in the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed quickly even though Harry was bored at times; he wasn't lacking things to do, but he was slowly growing more and more restless with the feeling that there was something that he was supposed to do growing in his mind, and that feeling made it difficult for him to concentrate on anything at times. He was quite sure that Hermione had noticed his restlessness, or at least something being off with him, but so far she hadn't said anything about it, and Harry was actually quite glad for that, since he wasn't sure that he could quite explain it to her, if she did ask about it. 

Besides Hermione wanting to study ahead, another thing that kept both Harry and Hermione busy during the holidays was their practising. Now that they had plenty of free time, they also spent a lot of it on wandless magic, and that was really showing; they were progressing very fast and it took them only about a week to learn their next spell, The Unlocking Charm, "Alohomora".

"You know, we seem to be learning much faster than I initially thought that we would," Hermione said one evening, as they were just finishing their practising, and she was looking slightly puzzled.

"Oh, really?" Harry asked her interestedly, not really knowing about it.

"We are," she said with conviction. "It used to take me about a month to learn a new spell, sometimes more than that, and we've learnt the Alohomora charm in just a week!" she added keenly.

Now that Harry thought about it, he too realised that they were learning very quickly. Admittedly they had spent a lot of time practising, but they were still learning at a very fast pace, and they were actually progressing faster than what they usually did on their classes, and if they would have had this much time to practise all the time, they might have actually learned large part of the spell curriculum wandlessly by the time they had their NEWTs.

"You know what's even more surprising?" Hermione asked him, interrupting his thoughts.

Harry thought about the question for a second, and he couldn't come up with anything in a short time, but Hermione continued before he even had time to ask what she meant.

"The fact that you're learning as fast as I am. When I was just starting, it took me two or even three months to learn just one spell, and for a long time I needed extreme concentration to be able to do even the simplest of spells, while you are already able to do spells with almost as little effort as I am. I have over a year more experience than you have, but now you are already learning as fast as I am," she told him, speaking rapidly, just like she usually did when she had a lot to say.

She kept a small pause, and her eyes focused somewhere in front of her during that, and she was looking downwards. "Sometimes it actually seems like you're learning faster than I am," she added, with a slightly sad tone.

Harry felt the need to lift her spirits somehow, and he quickly came up with just the thing that might cheer her up. "Well, you said it yourself that some people learn some things faster than others, and perhaps this is just one of those things. I mean, you're better than me at almost everything else, regarding magic," he said to her.

She turned to look at him and smiled sweetly. "Oh, you don't have to do that, Harry. You're smart too, whenever you just apply yourself, and you'd probably be as smart as I am, if you just spent as much time studying," she told him with the smile, but then she turned thoughtful and sighed. "I guess I'm just too used to being the best when it comes to studying, and I think it's an important lesson to learn that I can't be the best _all the time_, no matter how much I try," she added with just a hint of sadness.

Harry actually felt like hugging her in hopes of comforting her, which was a bit surprising, since he didn't usually care much for physical affection. He didn't really know if hugging was something that he was "allowed" to do in the name of friendship, despite Hermione hugging him at times, and he decided not to risk that. So, as he didn't know what to say to make her feel better, he had to settle to just giving her a sympathetic look, trying convey as much as possible of his feelings in that expression.

"Well, how about we get back to the tower? It's not that long until the curfew, and I'd like to do some reading before going to bed, anyway," she said, changing the subject.

"Okay," he agreed with her and they left towards the Gryffindor Tower, walking in silence.

That night Harry had some trouble getting to sleep, as there was a myriad of thoughts running through his head. Like Hermione, he was curious about the fact that they were learning wandless magic so quickly, but that thought didn't occupy his mind for too long, since he quickly reached the conclusion that whatever it was making them learn that fast was a good thing, because he really liked being able to do wandless magic. Especially the reduction of the amount of effort they needed for doing wandless spells was something great, since they could now both do the spells that they had practised a lot without needing more than a few seconds to focus themselves, and they didn't even need elaborate hand movements anymore – just small motions with their hands or fingers were usually enough. Harry thought that he was being a bit self-centred, but he couldn't help feeling that it was great to be able to do something that very few other witches and wizards could do.

Thinking about their wandless magic practising turned Harry's thoughts to another thing that he had noticed lately; the fact that he was spending very much time with Hermione. There was nothing unusual about that – they were close friends, after all – but ever since the first task it seemed that he had been spending quite literally all of his time with her; they played chess together, had meals together, practised together, did homework together, and he even usually joined her in the library or the common room when she read. He now seemed to enjoy her company more than anyone else's, even including Ron's, and he briefly wondered when that had happened. At first he was a bit startled by the change, and he wondered if it was another product of his crush on her, but then he realised that there was nothing bad about that – it just meant that he had a bit less time for other people, and that didn't really bother him, since he didn't have any other close friends besides Hermione and Ron.

And that was another thing bothering Harry. It seemed that they, him and Hermione, were drifting apart from Ron, and Harry wasn't exactly sure what to feel about that. At first it felt like something that should be stopped from happening, but then Harry realised that, as far as he knew, none of them was really hurt by the change – he hadn't noticed any indication of Ron and Hermione yearning for each others company – and Ron could spend more time with them, if he just wanted to. In the end Harry decided to just let the matter be, as he thought that it was just one of those things that happened with time; people changed and friendships changed with it.

The final thing that kept Harry's mind too busy for him to fall asleep, was Hermione – or his crush on her, to be more specific. He had caught himself staring at her a few times, and he thought that he really needed to keep a better control of himself, if he wanted to keep his crush to himself. He thought that a few very small hints might be okay, if they were something small enough to be only noticed by someone who was looking for them, just in case Hermione was in a situation like he was in.

And that's when it hit him. He suddenly realised that if he could keep his feelings hidden from Hermione, then she would most likely be able to do the same! But if he, on the other hand, did something about his feelings, gave her more obvious hints or outright told her, then she would almost certainly feel weird about it, if she didn't return the feelings – he could still remember how uncomfortable he had been about Ginny having a crush on him.

It took a long time for Harry to fall asleep that night, and despite that, the only thing that he really came up with was the fact that there just didn't seem to be a right thing to do in the situation he was in.

* * *

It was an evening of one of the last days of their holidays, when Harry finished reading the book he had received from Hermione, and for the rest of the evening he thought about what he had learnt from the book. While it dealt with all kinds of forms of magic that could be done without a wand, it really sparked Harry's interest in the Animagi, despite the book being more about the history of them, and not practical information about becoming one. Apparently the Animagus transformation had first been described by Merlin himself, but he hadn't actually been an Animagus. He had learnt the Animagus transformation from his tutor, a witch that Merlin called Alanna the Everliving, who was the first known Animagus, but according to the book, almost nothing is known about her; Merlin wrote a large series of "journals of magic" during his lifetime, documenting his studies of magic as a protégé of Alanna, but he wrote almost nothing about his or Alanna's personal lives. Harry was quite sure that Hermione would know more about the Animagus transformation, and so he decided to ask her about it the next day. 

The next morning, Harry didn't immediately remember it, but while they were playing chess after breakfast, and Hermione was silently thinking her next move, concentrating on the game, his thoughts started straying from the game, and he remembered what he had thought the night before.

"Hermione?" Harry said, getting her attention, which had been fully on the game they were playing.

"Yeah?" she asked, lifting her gaze from the game to him.

"Uhm, how much do you know about the Animagi?" he asked her directly.

"Well, I know the history of the Animagus transformation, including the legal history of it, and I also know some famous Animagi, but I doubt you're interested in those?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"Uhm, no, not really," he replied and her smile widened to a grin for a brief moment. "I mostly meant the practical side of it," he then clarified his question.

Her smile was replaced by an interested expression. "Not much really. I only know that most witches and wizards aren't able to become Animagi, although it is not known why, and that learning the transformation takes a long time. Oh, and the actual transformation usually doesn't require a wand, although you can use one, if you can't do it naturally," she told him, and then she frowned before continuing.

"The Animagus transformation is actually restricted by the Ministry and anyone who wants to learn it or try it must register in the Ministry, before you can legally get an access to the books that describe the transformation process in enough detail to actually do it," she told him, and she paused for a moment to think about something, and her frown deepened before she continued.

"It's quite silly actually; all the books that have too detailed information about the Animagus transformation, are either restricted, or those parts are removed from the books. Even the publicly available editions of Merlin's Journals of Magic are not complete because of that!" she said and seemed scandalised.

"Oh," Harry replied, a bit surprised about her tirade. "So, it's not possible to learn to become an Animagus without registering to the Ministry?" he asked her then.

"Well, not legally anyway, and under-aged witches and wizards aren't even allowed to register for it," she remarked darkly, but then she seemed to remember the chess game they were playing, and she made her next move, before looking back at him.

"I really wanted to learn about it, you know, to be able to try the transformation later, since it requires your magic to have matured somewhat before you can really transform, but I really didn't fancy taking a stroll in the Knockturn alley, trying to find the books about it, or something like that," she said with a slightly bitter tone.

"Oh, I didn't know about that," Harry replied slightly distractedly, as he was now trying to think his next move too. "I actually wanted to learn it too," he added, his attention still at the chess game.

"Really?" she asked slightly surprised, and Harry nodded, but then she turned thoughtful. "Technically it would be illegal, but I don't see what harm there could be in only learning to do it, especially as the Animagus transformation is actually more safe than what most people think it is. We could then register to the Ministry when we are of age," she said thoughtfully.

They lapsed into a silence, both deep in thought. Harry concentrated on the game, until he made his next move, but then he continued thinking about the Animagus transformation, and it didn't take long until he came up with a way they just might be able to get an access to the books they needed for it.

Harry looked around to make sure that there weren't anyone nearby before speaking. "You know, we could ask Sirius about it – they did the transformation illegally, and he might still know where to get the books from," Harry said to Hermione in a slightly hushed voice.

Hermione had been entranced by their game, and needed a second to process what Harry had said, but then she smiled brightly. "Oh, that's great Harry! Why didn't I think of that?" she said enthusiastically, but then her expression fell a bit. "I don't think we should ask him about that in a letter, though, as letters can be intercepted, but instead we should wait until we can actually meet him," she added, frowning slightly.

"That might take some time," Harry interjected, as they hadn't actually met Sirius since the end of their third year, although he did agree with Hermione.

"Well, better safe than sorry, don't you think?" she asked him in return.

"Oh, definitely," he replied earnestly. "And there's no rush, anyway," he added.

Hermione just smiled as a reply, and they continued their chess game in silence for a moment, before starting to talk about other things. Harry was left hoping that they could meet with Sirius as soon as possible.

* * *

After the holidays, school started again and with relief Harry noted that no one seemed to be paying him much attention any more. It was a long time since the first task and nothing strange or unusual had occurred to him after that, except for the newspaper article about the Yule Ball, and even that seemed to have passed and forgotten already. It made Harry's days significantly easier and lighter to be just one of the students again, and not having to endure the animosity of most of the student body, like he had to before the first task. Now he wasn't even stared at, like after the first task, and the only thing that was really bothering him was the fact that Snape seemed to have become even more unpleasant than usual. 

Harry hadn't yet talked with Hermione about the SPEW and house-elves, but when the classes started again she didn't have much time for the research and that seemed to make her quite frustrated, and Harry finally decided to talk her about it. He had thought about the issue a few times, ever since he had first noticed her still going on with it, and one evening, when they were once again in the library, and Harry was just taking a short break (he was searching their old Charms and DADA books for some useful spells they could practise), he decided to talk with her about it and tell her what he thought.

"You still continuing with the SPEW, Hermione?" he asked her, a bit tentatively and shirking around the issue, since she had a tendency to get quite worked up about the elves. He also made sure to pronounce the acronym correctly.

She looked up from the book she was reading and seemed surprised at the interruption for a moment, but then her expression changed to determined. "Of course I am!" she said firmly. "I just haven't had much time for it and I almost forgot the whole thing after the first task, but the house-elves are still being abused and enslaved!" she continued.

"So, have you found anything interesting?" he asked her, trying to sound as interested as possible and he still didn't quite get to the point.

"No, there's almost nothing written about the house-elves," she huffed with frustration. "There's just a short description about them in most books about magical creatures, and all of them say pretty much the same things about them being 'magical creatures of near human intelligence', and also that they are used as servants, as they seem to like working," she continued with a more neutral tone, although her frustration still showed through in her expression.

"Oh," Harry said, not knowing what to say about that. He thought about it just for a second, and feeling slightly hesitant, he decided to voice his opinion. "Hermione, are you sure that you are going the right way with this SPEW thing?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked him challengingly.

"Well, I agree that the house-elves are treated poorly and something should be done about it, but aren't there laws against their mistreatment or something like that?" he asked her.

"Yes, there are, but they are absolutely barbaric! Physical abuse of the so-called 'magical creatures of near human intelligence' is forbidden, so what the Malfoys were doing to Dobby was illegal, but otherwise their enslavement is completely legal! And even worse, those laws aren't even enforced usually, especially as many of the elves feel obliged to hurt _themselves_ whenever they don't manage to satisfy their masters, and that is completely legal and even encouraged!" she said scandalised.

Harry was momentarily distracted by her words, since they made him realise just how badly the Wizarding world was treating the house-elves – he had used to believe that only Malfoys' and such would stoop low enough to abuse house-elves, or let the elves hurt themselves, but now he wasn't so sure. He caught his wandering mind soon, though, and returned to his original train of thought.

"But perhaps you should try some other way of trying to help them? You know, even if you managed to get a lot of people to support you and join SPEW, would it really change that much?" he asked her.

She seemed thoughtful. "Go on," she urged him.

"I mean, the people who would want to support SPEW wouldn't want to have a house-elf anyway, and those who have them wouldn't want to join in it, so shouldn't you try to influence the public opinion and try to get the laws changed or something like that?" he asked her, feeling slightly foolish actually – the things that had sounded very sensible when he had thought about them, didn't sound so good now that he said them aloud.

For a moment she looked like she was going to argue, but then she sighed and seemed to deflate a bit. "I already knew that," she sighed sadly.

"That was one of the points of the whole SPEW, you know – it is for _promotion_ of elfish welfare after all," she told him. "I just wished that I could have done something for them immediately, you know? I wished that if I just told people about it, they would start caring more for the house-elves, and would tell their friends and everything. But instead, I guess it will take a huge campaign and everything to influence the public opinion enough, so that people would want the laws to be changed, and the enslavement of house-elves to be abolished," she told him. "But that would take years and years and loads of effort," she added despondently.

"But is there anything else that you, or we, could do to stop it completely?" Harry asked her.

"I guess not," she sighed. "So, I guess I should start researching for ways to make that happen?" she asked rhetorically. "I'll need to come up with ways to get publicity for the cause, and, most of all, I think, I need to think of something to make people see that the house-elves are mistreated horribly, despite being intelligent and sentient beings," she said mostly to herself.

"Anything I can help with?" Harry asked her earnestly – originally he had only wanted to help her, but now he was starting to feel determined to help the elves too, if at all possible.

She looked at him with surprise. "No, not at the moment, but thanks anyway," she said with a pleased tone, and smiled at him, although he could tell that she was still slightly unhappy about the whole matter.

"You know, I don't think I told you that Dobby and Winky are here in Hogwarts," he told her, remembering what Dobby had told him after waking him up on the Christmas morning.

"Really?" Hermione asked and she brightened visibly.

"Yeah, Dobby woke me up on the Christmas morning, and he told me that they are both working here at Hogwarts and Dumbledore is even paying Dobby," Harry told her.

"Oh, that's great!" she replied happily. "I really should find out where the elves work and go visit them. I could have a talk with them, and really learn about them from themselves," she said eagerly, before turning thoughtful.

For a moment she seemed to just think about it, but then she turned her attention back to the book she had been reading. Harry caught himself staring at her again, and quickly he too resumed his reading.

* * *

As the January passed, they were once again more busy than what they used to be during the holidays, and they were also spending more time away from each other, as Hermione had several classes that Harry didn't take. Harry was slightly sad about that, especially as with all the schoolwork they didn't have that much time for wandless magic, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it. But at least he was very happy about the wristwatch he had received from Hermione, since he always had the watch with him, and whenever he checked the time, it reminded him of her. 

Harry hadn't noticed it during the holidays and had almost completely forgotten it, but now that they had classes again, he saw that Professor Moody was still paying him a lot of attention, and Harry again couldn't help feeling that something was going to happen soon. The feeling wasn't waning either, but it was just getting stronger, as the days passed. Harry was actually starting to feel quite paranoid – he kept expecting something to attack him almost all the time – and he wondered if he had caught that from Professor Moody. But still, paranoid or not, it was true that whoever had put Harry's name in the Goblet was still out there, and hadn't done anything for a long time.

Despite his paranoia, the only notable thing that did happen, was the return of Pig. One morning he brought a very short note to him from Sirius, that only told him to be careful, and that Sirius was relocating and, as a result, probably wouldn't write for some time, although Harry could still reach him with an owl, if he needed to. Harry felt relieved to know that Sirius was still okay, but he also couldn't help being slightly concerned about Sirius having to move around – it would increase the risk of him being caught.

* * *

Harry and Hermione had continued their wandless magic practising by studying to do more spells without a wand, but they had also noticed some advantages that wandless magic had over normal spellcasting. Namely, when they did spells wandlessly, they noticed that they could have a much better control of the spell, and they could do more complicated things with simpler spells. 

"You think we're about done with Incendio?" Hermione asked one evening, referring to the Fire Spell that they were currently practising. They both seemed to have quite a good grasp of the spell already, and they were both eager to move on to their next spell already.

"Yeah, I think I've got a hang of it," Harry replied and then he smiled.

He concentrated for a second, before clenching his fist, and then slowly opening it almost fully. A small flame appeared just above his palm and Harry's expression turned to satisfied, but then it was replaced by concentration again, as he shook his hand a bit, exhausting the flame, and he suddenly pushed forward with his hand, bending his wrist down so that his palm pointed forwards, and he did a kind of throwing motion with his hand. A small ball of fire appeared in front of his palm and flew some feet forward, before colliding with a wall and dying out. Harry turned to look at Hermione again with satisfied expression.

"Show off," Hermione replied with a teasing smile, and Harry couldn't help responding with a grin, but then she turned thoughtful again, before continuing. "You know, I've thought that we could start trying to practise doing spells with less effort instead of just studying new spells. I'm quite sure we could manage at least the simple spells without having to concentrate so much and maybe even without hand gestures at all, if we just practised enough," she told him enthusiastically.

"Oh, really?" he asked a bit surprised. "I've actually thought about the same thing, since the only reason I wouldn't want to use wandless magic everyday is the effort it requires to do even simple spells. With wand you just swish and flick and say the incantation, but for wandless magic we still need our full concentration, even if we don't need to concentrate for several seconds anymore," he told her. "Or I do, anyway. You can already do some spells with almost no visible effect," he added dejectedly. While Harry usually learnt a wandless spell about as quickly as Hermione, or sometimes even a bit faster, he still needed much more effort to actually cast the spells than she did.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get better at it too, as you get more experience," she encouraged him. "So, what do you think, should we start with simple spells or more difficult ones?" she then asked him.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess it would be easier to start with the simple spells, but the harder ones would be more useful, since we can both do the easier spells quite easily already," he said thoughtfully.

"Well, lets start with the Summoning Charm then?" she asked, but then she frowned. "How should we practise it, though?" she asked, mostly to herself.

"We could just Summon random things, without really concentrating on it beforehand," he said, and she turned to look at him. To demonstrate his point, he turned around, looking for something small enough to summon, and the first thing he noticed was their wands, lying next to their backpacks in one corner of the room. He just lifted his hand to be ready to catch the wand, before focusing on his own wand. In a few seconds he was looking very intensely focused, when the wand finally jumped in the air and flew to his hand.

"Like that," he said, turning back to her, and he was a bit surprised to notice that he was slightly out of breath as a result of the intense concentration on the spell. "I'm sure that if we'll do it enough, we'll be able to do it faster and faster, as we learn to concentrate more quickly on it," he continued.

"I guess that will do," she said, nodding her approval.

"The Banishing Charm would be really useful, though," Harry said, looking at the wand in his hand, and frowning a bit. They had studied that Charm in their Charms classes for some time now, but he still couldn't do it. "Or I'll have to take all the objects I summon back to their places, before I can continue," he said.

Hermione chuckled lightly, good-naturedly. "How about we first spend some time on that Charm? I'll help you with it, if there's anything specific you need help with," she said to him.

"Thanks," Harry replied earnestly. "I guess it's just like the Summoning Charm – it took me ages to learn that Charm too," he said rather unhappily.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure you'll learn it soon if we just work on it," she replied encouragingly. "And, you know, that's the only thing you seem to be having trouble with in you classes. You're even doing well in Potions," she consoled him.

It turned out that she was right, and he needed just two days of practising to finally learn the Charm, and after that they could continue fully with their wandless magic again. She was also right about his classes; he was doing better than usual, thanks to spending more time studying with her, and he even doing better in Potions than ever before. Unfortunately, that just seemed to make Snape dislike him even more – not that Harry really minded it that much, as he was quite used to Snape's verbal abuse, but it really wasn't fun either.

* * *

One Saturday evening, as the January passed and made way for the February, Harry and Hermione were just sitting in the common room, not really doing anything – their weeks were full, and it was really nice to just sit down and relax together at times. Harry was deep in though, thinking about the feeling of needing to do something that seemed to be still growing in his mind. It was starting to get really bothersome, since now the feeling kept popping up almost constantly in his mind, distracting him from whatever he was doing, and he had trouble concentrating on pretty much anything because of the feeling, and it was starting to have ill effect on his studies. He was just thinking of what to do about it, when his thoughts were interrupted by Hermione's voice. 

"Harry, is there something bothering you?" she asked him, and when Harry turned to look at her, he saw that she was looking at him questioningly, but she also seemed slightly worried.

"Why?" Harry asked a bit surprised, not really knowing what she was talking about. He was slightly afraid that she had caught on his crush and was talking about that, but he was hoping that she had only noticed his restlessness and nothing more.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about," Hermione said with a no nonsense voice. "You have been growing restless since, at least, late December, and you're often distracted from what you're doing, or trying to do, and sometimes you're just staring off to distance," she added, but then her features softened. "You know you can tell me about anything, if there's something bothering you, don't you?" she asked him.

Harry sighed. He didn't know exactly what he felt and why he felt so, and especially he didn't quite know how to put it into words, but despite that he decided to try explaining it to her.

"It's just... I feel like there is something that I'm supposed to be doing or something like that. Like I have an urge to do something, but I just don't know what that is," he explained thoughtfully, lapsing to a short silence, but then he perked up a bit when he thought of something.

"You know, I feel like that about our practising; when we're busy and don't have time for wandless magic for a day or two, I feel like I'm missing something, but the feeling goes away the next time we practise. I guess I also feel like that about something else, but I just don't know what it is," he explained to her.

Hermione seemed intrigued, although she seemed to be puzzled about it too. "Since when have you felt like that?" she asked with her brows furrowed in contemplation.

"Well, I've had a kind of... craving for the wandless magic ever since the first task," he said and a shadow passed on his face, but he shrugged it off, before he continued speaking. "But there's also something else that I've felt since... about the beginning of December. Or maybe even right after the first task, but I just didn't notice it at first," he said. "And it's only got worse over time," he added unhappily as an afterthought.

"Is that why you've wanted to practise wandless magic so much?" she asked with feigned disinterest, but Harry saw through her ruse and knew that she was more interested about his answer than she wanted to show, although he wasn't exactly sure why. He presumed that she was afraid that he was only spending time with her, studying wandless magic, because the feeling was forcing him to do that.

"Well, maybe just a tiny bit," he admitted. "But mostly I do it because it's really interesting," he added.

"I mean, not very many are able to do it and we've become quite good in it, haven't we?" he continued fondly with a smile, and he almost added that he also really liked spending time with her, but he caught himself just in time to stop himself.

She seemed satisfied by his answer and she smiled to herself, and that made Harry feel very pleased, because it seemed that she too wanted to spend her time with him. But then he realised that she might also be satisfied because he was showing interest in studying – that's what their wandless magic practising really was – as she thought that studying was something really important. Not that he really disagreed with her on that, but he just wasn't as eager to study as she was.

"So, you have no idea what the other thing might be?" she asked after a second of silence, returning to the thoughtful look she had had earlier.

"No, not really. It's getting quite disturbing at times, though," he said and some of the frustration he felt about the disturbing feeling showed in his expression.

"I don't think I've ever heard of something like that," Hermione told him, and she was looking sympathetic. "Sounds like something to do with psychology to me," she added.

"Yeah, maybe," Harry answered noncommittally with a shrug.

The following day Hermione (being Hermione) of course checked the library for any books that might explain Harry's weird feelings. She didn't find any books about psychology, nor anything that resembled it, and it seemed that the magical people simply didn't have a branch of science similar to muggle psychology. Hermione seemed bothered by the fact that she wasn't able to help him, and that in turn made Harry feel bad for making her worry, but he also felt good for her caring about him that much.

* * *

The second task was slowly nearing and the students paid more attention to the champions once again. Harry noticed to his surprise that he too cared about the Tournament somewhat, now that he wasn't one of the champions anymore, and he really wanted for Hogwarts to win. 

On the morning of the second task the seats that had been used in the first task, and had been around the dragon enclosure, were now on the bank of the lake. All the students were to go there after breakfast to watch the second task, and Harry, Hermione and Ron were just on their way there, when they were interrupted by Professor Moody.

"Mr. Potter, I have something to talk with you," he said gruffly and it was obvious that Hermione and Ron weren't wanted for the discussion. Harry just shrugged at the questioning look Hermione sent him.

"We'll save you a seat," Hermione said and she and Ron left towards the lake, leaving Harry alone with Professor Moody, although Hermione briefly turned her head to cast a concerned look at Harry.

"Let's go somewhere where we can't be overheard," Moody said and started leading Harry towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry felt that something important was about to happen and he wondered if Moody had found out who had put his name in the Goblet.

"Professor? Do you know who put my name in the Goblet?" Harry couldn't help asking impatiently as they walked.

"I do indeed, Potter, but that's not something we can discuss here, out in the open," Moody answered and continued straight into the forest, after looking around and making sure that no one was nearby.

Harry was starting to get suspicious as they continued on their way towards the heart of the forest and the hairs in the back of his neck were starting to stand up, indicating that something dangerous was about to happen, but Harry held himself back, knowing that he could trust Professor Moody. Just when Harry was about to ask Moody where they were going, Moody stopped in front of him.

"Come here," he said and gestured for Harry to come closer. Moody was looking around, seemingly nervous about something, and he had his wand in his hand, but it wasn't aimed at Harry.

Harry hesitated a second, but then he did as he was told, and took a careful step closer to Moody. He was prepared to run at the slightest hint of danger, despite trusting Moody, and he also mentally prepared himself for doing wandless magic, although he thought that he was being paranoid for nothing. Then Moody suddenly grabbed a tight hold of Harry's arm, and he could feel an item on Moody's hand pressing against his arm. The sudden move caused panic to well in Harry's mind, but before he had time to react on it, Moody tapped the item in his hand with his wand, and Harry felt a tugging sensation behind his navel – he was being Portkeyed to somewhere!

Harry didn't know what was happening, but during the Portkey trip he decided that the moment they touched ground, he would try to get away by any means possible. Just seconds later they landed suddenly, and Moody's hold on Harry's arm loosened and Harry fell down. He was acting on an instinct and he immediately rolled away, and during the roll, he quickly got his wand from his pocket and he shot the Stunning Spell, that he had practised with Hermione before the first task, at where he thought Moody was standing. Moody was too quick for him, however, and he dodged the spell and returned the fire with a spell of his own.

Harry didn't know what spell it was, but he rolled away from it, behind a slab of stone that was next to him. He quickly got up to a crouching position, and he was going to try shooting another Stunning Spell at Moody from behind the stone, but before he had time for that he heard an incantation from behind him and he instantly turned around to look that way. He didn't even have time to see what spell it was or who had cast it, before he was already hit by the spell, and ropes that appeared out of nowhere quickly tied him to the stone. While he tried to struggle against the rope binding him, he could see that it was Wormtail who had cast the spell.

"You," Harry said with loathing, but Wormtail didn't answer.

Instead, Wormtail walked away, and as Harry continued to struggle against his bindings, he saw that he was on a small cemetery and that he was tied to a tombstone. There was a large house near the cemetery and Wormtail was walking to that direction, but Harry didn't have time for any further circumspection, since he could hear steps approaching him from behind him and he was sure that it was Moody. The steps stopped just behind Harry.

"Thought you could catch me off guard, did you?" Harry heard from behind him, in a gruff and aggressive voice that was somewhat different from Moody's voice.

Harry's mind was on the edge of panic, as he waited for something to happen, but all thoughts left his mind suddenly, when he was hit hard against the side of his head. The strength of the punch had Harry feeling dizzy for a moment, and he could also feel blood trickling on his skin where he had been hit. He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Professor Moody appearing from behind him. As he walked past Harry, Moody took away Harry's wand, and continued to the direction where Wormtail had gone.

Harry could feel a nasty headache developing as a result of the hit, but he was also aware of the fact that his scar was burning and he knew that Voldemort was somewhere near. That thought had him feeling panicky again, but he knew that he had to calm himself down, or he would be useless in wandless magic, which seemed to be his only hope of escaping, despite the fact that he wasn't sure what he could do to the ropes that were binding him. He didn't even know the counter spell to the whatever spell Wormtail had used on him, never mind being able to do it wandlessly, and the only thing he could come up with was setting the ropes on fire. He was quite sure that he would be able to do the fire spell even without hand gestures, if he could only concentrate enough, but that would also risk getting himself burned.

So, Harry tried to calm himself with deep breaths, but he was interrupted soon, when Moody and Wormtail came back towards him, dragging a huge stone cauldron with them. They settled the cauldron in front of Harry, just a couple of meters from him, and Moody started a fire under it, while Wormtail left again. He returned just a moment later with a bundle of robes and he settled them carefully on the ground, near the cauldron.

"Hurry," said a high and cold voice from inside the bundle of robes. Harry thought that there was something distinctly familiar in the voice and he was quite sure who was inside the robes, although he didn't know how it was possible. But whoever it was, the voice seemed to make Wormtail nervous, while Moody seemed to be quite calm, as they both waited for something to happen.

Harry was very glad for the calm moment, since he could feel the panic leaving his mind, even if he wasn't calm yet, and he just observed the scene, while he tried to frantically think of something to help him escape. Soon the cauldron started steaming and bubbling, as the liquid inside it started boiling, and Moody seemed to be entranced by the cauldron, while Wormtail seemed to get just more nervous and he seemed really scared now, as he turned back to the bundle of robes again.

"It is ready, master," Wormtail said with a light tremble in his voice, and then he opened the bundle of robes.

What was revealed from inside, was the most disgusting and evil-looking thing that Harry had ever seen. It was shaped a bit like a child, an infant, but there was something distinctly snake-like in its shape, and the skin of the ugly creature was scaly and dark red-black, and the whole creature looked like a thousand times larger version of something you might see crawling from under a stone. Besides looking nasty and evil, the creature seemed to be emanating an aura of evilness and hatred around itself, and that just served to make the impression of horror even stronger.

Wormtail lifted the ugly creature from the robes – he was looking disgusted as he did so – and he put it down in the cauldron, and Harry found himself wishing with all his might that the evil thing would just drown. His scar was really burning now and he had trouble concentrating on the scene because of the intense pain, but despite that, he forced himself to watch, as Wormtail stood next to the cauldron, and started some kind of a ritual. Harry knew that whatever was happening was something of huge importance, and if he managed to escape, he'd have to remember as much as possible, and tell it all to Dumbledore.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given," Wormtail said, talking loudly to the night, in a steady voice that didn't seem to reflect any of the fear that was visible on his face, and he waved his wand.

A grave cracked open and some very fine, white bone dust flew from the tomb into the cauldron, and despite his pains, Harry found himself staring at the scene with morbid fascination, just like Moody was doing.

"Flesh of a servant, willingly given," Wormtail intoned again and he hesitated for just a moment, before taking a dagger from inside his robes. He put the dagger against his wrist, and Harry couldn't help wincing, as Wormtail cut his own hand from wrist down with with a slightly shaky, but strong wrench of the dagger. Wormtail let the hand fall into the cauldron, and his face was twisted into a pained expression, but that didn't seem to stop him from continuing with the ritual. Now he came right in front of Harry, still holding the dagger in his other hand.

"Blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will ... resurrect your foe," Wormtail said, slightly out of breath, but with a wild and almost insane expression on his face, and he reached with the dagger towards Harry.

Harry tried to struggle against his bindings but they held him fast, and Wormtail slashed the dagger down on Harry's arm. It was a deep, clean cut and, though it didn't hurt nearly as much as it might have, it started bleeding profusely. Wormtail dropped the dagger, took a vial from inside his robes, and gathered some of Harry's blood into it, and then he walked back to the cauldron and poured the blood into it. Wormtail stepped back, cradling his injured arm, as the cauldron started simmering, and soon both him and Moody were totally entranced by the sight of it. Harry too stared at the cauldron for a short moment, but then he noticed that Wormtail and Moody weren't paying him any attention, and he had a perfect moment to look for a way to escape.

Harry was now having a very nasty headache, although he barely felt that under the intense burning sensation he felt on his scar, but despite his pains, he tried to calm himself down and bring his thoughts in control again. That proved out to be somewhat easier now, as most of the panic he had felt earlier had disappeared, and he managed to push everything else to the back of his mind, as he looked around for something to help him get rid of the rope that bound him. He soon noticed the dagger that Wormtail had dropped on the ground, just a few feet from him, and he closed his eyes and concentrated almost desperately on it – he knew that he was good enough in the Summoning Charm to do it even without a hand gesture, if he could just focus enough on it.

After a few deep breaths he opened his eyes and looked intently at the dagger, concentrating fully on the thought of summoning it to his hand, all but forgetting the scene that still played on in front of him. The dagger only twitched at first, but as Harry put even more mental effort on the spell, the dagger finally jumped through the air towards his awaiting hand, and he just barely managed to catch it, even with the rope binding him – his hand had very little space to move, and the catch was mostly thanks to the accuracy of the Summoning Charm.

Meanwhile, Moody and Wormtail were still totally entranced by the cauldron, especially as it had started emitting sparks and now spouted heaps of thick, white smoke that drowned everything inside it. Even in the bright light of the day, it was soon impossible to see more than vague shapes through the smoke, and hidden inside the smoke, Harry started using the dagger to cut the rope that bound him. It was very difficult at first, but slowly he managed to cut through the rope and it started loosening, and soon he managed to wrench the rest of the rope off of him, and he was free.

Harry stood up quickly, and he was about to turn away and run, when he remembered his wand. So, he took another moment to gather his thoughts, this time focusing on his wand, and as he could now make a hand gesture, he had no trouble with the Summoning Charm. His wand sailed through the air towards his hand, and he caught it easily. Just as he turned around, ready to make a run for it, he heard a high, cold voice from behind him that stopped him on his tracks.

"Leaving so soon, Harry?" the voice asked with a mocking tone.

Harry immediately recognised the voice, but as he turned around he wished that he had misheard it. His wish was not granted, and he found himself face to face with the monster that had haunted his life ever since he had been an infant; he was staring at the white, snake-like face of the newly reborn Voldemort, and Harry could feel his heart plummeting, as he realised that his change of escaping or even surviving the situation had just diminished. Despite his inner feelings, Harry stared defiantly at the bane of his life, at the person who had caused most of the misery of his life, and he didn't budge an inch under the evil gaze of the darkest and most feared wizard of the century.

"Expelliarmus," Voldemort said suddenly, his expression turning aggressive, and he flicked his wand at Harry.

On an instinct Harry shouted "Protego", doing a circling motion with his wand, and a glimmering shield appeared in front of him and deflected Voldemort's spell.

"I see you've learnt some new tricks since our last meeting," Voldemort said with an evil smirk. Then he suddenly swished his wand again and grumbled "Crucio".

Harry was too slow to dodge the spell and it hit him on his side. He was immediately drowned under an ocean of pain and he fell on the ground, screaming in agony. It was a thousand times worse than anything he had experienced before, and he felt like he was being cut and burned all over his body simultaneously, like he was being shred to pieces. The pain was so all encompassing that at that moment, nothing existed for Harry but the pain, and it drowned all feelings and conscious thought under it. Even time lost its meaning and the pain seemed to stretch on for an eternity, and Harry wasn't even aware that he was writhing in agony on the ground, until suddenly the pain was lifted and he was left breathless, lying on the ground, shivering from the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse.

In just a second Harry was back in the reality, but he could still feel a deep pain all over his body. He tried to get up, but his muscles didn't obey his command and he absently noticed that he was still grasping his wand in his hand, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not bend even his hand under his will, and he could do nothing but lie helpless on the ground, gasping for air, and cursing his weakness.

"Obviously, you have no idea of what kind of a power you are dealing with," Voldemort hissed at him from a close distance. "The Black Serpent shall rise again and, despite my fears after that fateful Halloween night, this time there will be no White Phoenix to save the day. I will make sure of that now," he continued with a triumphant voice that turned baleful towards the end.

"You were saved twice by a very ancient form of magic that was initiated by your worthless mother's sacrifice, but now with your blood running through my veins it won't protect you anymore, and we'll see just how helpless you are against Lord Voldemort," he hissed in a superior tone.

Voldemort crouched even lower towards Harry, took a hold of his face, and forcefully turned it so that Harry was looking straight at Voldemort's face. "And now you _will_ die," Voldemort hissed nastily with so much suppressed anger in his voice that Harry could feel a shiver run down his spine. Voldemort pushed him back down on the ground, and Harry was still too weak to do anything, but fall on the ground limbless, quickly losing all hopes of surviving.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort said loudly, flicking his wand at Harry's direction, and there was a clear tone of triumph in his voice now.

But before Voldemort had even finished saying the curse there was a trilling note of ethereal song and it renewed Harry's hope and gave him just enough strength to roll over and avoid the Killing Curse that slammed uselessly on the ground next to him. Before Voldemort had time to react to the new twist of things, a crimson bird flew straight at Harry so fast that it looked like a bolt of lightning struck him. The swan sized bird grabbed a tight hold of Harry with it's claws and flew away just as quickly as it had appeared, carrying Harry in its talons like he was weightless, leaving behind just another note of it's unearthly song.

"Fawkes," Harry said, feeling strengthened by the Phoenix song. "Thanks," he said with all his heart to the magnificent bird that had saved his life again. The bird answered him with another note of its song, and it invigorated Harry somewhat, as they flew high in the air, towards an unknown destination.

_To be continued..._

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AN: I was very tempted to end the chapter two paragraphs earlier, but I doubt many would have liked that (grin). And before you ask, there will be an explanation of why Moody/Barty Crouch jnr. kidnapped Harry so easily. 


	6. The White Phoenix and the Black Serpent

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

Some author's notes:

All right, finally another update. Again, I'm sorry for this chapter taking so long, but at least now I have a good reason for that: this chapter was a really difficult one. I ended up rewriting almost the whole chapter (and some parts more than once), because I wasn't happy with the original and also because I've done some changes to the storyline and had to change/add stuff, and then there were a few parts that I just didn't seem to get right, no matter what. Another reason for the delay was the fact that my notes (I've gathered lots during the months I've worked on this story) were in a complete disarray and it took me a long time just to figure out what exactly needed to be said in this chapter, especially as some of my notes were inconsistent with some others, and all in all it was a big mess...

Because my updates seem to be taking so long, I've decided to put up a forum here in fanfiction dot net (you can find a link to it on my profile page, as links don't seem to be allowed in chapter texts), and I'm going to at least try posting regular updates about the current progress of the chapter there, if it ends up taking more than a week or two. You can also go there to ask your questions and such, and I'll probably post stuff there about my future projects and things like that, should someone be interested in those.

In a review I was asked about what kind of reviews I like, and I don't think I have said anything about that yet, so: I really like constructive criticism because it (hopefully) helps me become a better writer, but most important thing to me is your honest opinion on whether you like the story/chapter or not. I mostly write for my own enjoyment, but there's no reason for me to take the time to edit and publish my stories if no one enjoys reading them...

In this chapter you'll finally get some background about the White Phoenix and other things, and I guess I should mention that the references in this chapter to Merlin and such aren't conforming with the real Arthurian legends (nor what little there is about them in the Harry Potter canon), but instead they are used creatively. The chapter is almost all talk, but I hope it's not too boring.

And finally, for everyone eagerly anticipating the Harry/Hermione stuff: patience my little ones, it will happen (grin). Harry is just going to need a bit of a push to actually ask her out and realize that he needs to act on his feelings if he wants something to happen. And no need to worry about Hermione going out with Ron, as that won't happen in this fic...

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 6 – The White Phoenix and the Black Serpent**

"_Fawkes," Harry said, feeling strengthened by the Phoenix song. "Thanks," he said with all his heart to the magnificent bird that had saved his life again. The bird answered him with another note of its song, and it invigorated Harry somewhat, as they flew high in the air, towards an unknown destination._

Fawkes was carrying him very high in the air, and when Harry glanced down, he saw that they were also flying at an enormous speed. The rapid changing of the scenery made him feel a bit dizzy and nauseous and, combined with the still lingering effect of the Cruciatus Curse, Harry decided that it was better not to look down. He just tried to relax as much as possible and let Fawkes carry him to wherever it wanted, although he presumed that they were going back to Hogwarts.

If Harry's mind hadn't still been dulled by the after effects of the curse, he might have wondered why he wasn't feeling cold, flying very high in the air on a cool February day – it was yet another trait of the brilliant creatures, phoenixes.

As Harry calmed down from the adrenaline rush that had resulted from the fight at the graveyard, he started feeling weak and he shivered despite not feeling cold, and despite Fawkes singing a few strengthening notes every now and then. That's when he also noticed that he was still grasping his wand tightly in his hand, and he quickly pocketed it, not wanting to drop it by accident.

His sense of time wasn't at its best either, but eventually, after what could have been mere minutes or even a couple of hours, Harry saw that he had guessed their destination correctly when he finally spotted the ancient castle of Hogwarts far ahead of them. But Fawkes travelled the distance in just a short moment, and without slowing its speed much, it flew straight in through one of the many windows of the castle.

Harry noticed that they were in Dumbledore's office, as Fawkes quickly slowed down, and gently lowered him to a soft armchair in the room. With another ethereal trill of its song, Fawkes disappeared through the window again, leaving Harry alone in the office, and now that he didn't have the phoenix song to help him, he started feeling really cold and soon his body also started aching with a deep pain that cut all the way to the marrow, making him feel truly miserable, and he curled up on the chair.

Thankfully, he didn't have to endure it for long before Fawkes returned and settled on its perch, singing a few comforting notes every now and then, easing Harry's condition considerably. And then, just a moment later, Dumbledore also rushed into the office, looking deeply troubled and serious, but he seemed to be relieved a bit when he saw Harry.

Dumbledore's face softened, as he noticed how small and miserable Harry was looking, curled up on the armchair; he was shaking from cold, his face was pale and he had some dried blood on his temple, and his expression was closed and turned inwards, and it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain. There was also a long, deep and messy cut on his arm, that was still bleeding slightly, and his clothes were dirty and dishevelled.

"Let's take you to the Hospital Wing, Harry," Dumbledore said softly with a sigh, and with a surprising strength for someone that old, the headmaster picked Harry up from the chair and walked out of the office with long, carrying strides.

Dumbledore carried Harry through the passages of Hogwarts and in just a short time, they were in front of the doors to the Hospital Wing, and they hadn't even met anyone on their way there. Dumbledore walked in through the doors to the empty Hospital Wing, and he gently lowered Harry down on one of the beds there and sat down on a chair next to the bed. Harry curled up on a ball with his eyes unfocused and he continued to shiver.

"Madam Pomfrey is still attending to the second task but she should be here in a moment," Dumbledore said, and Harry's eyes focused on him for a while, but then strayed again.

"Can you tell me what happened, Harry?" Dumbledore then asked him softly, leaning in closer to Harry.

For a moment it looked like Harry hadn't heard the question, but then his expression cleared somewhat and turned to a tormented one. "He's back," he said quietly.

"Voldemort is back!" Harry repeated a bit more strongly and urgently, but then his mind seemed to cloud again, and his expression turned more inwards again, and he looked away from Dumbledore. However after a moment of silence he started speaking again.

"Moody... he had a Portkey," he said, keeping a small pause. "Took us to a graveyard, and Wormtail, he was there too... tied me to a gravestone, but I summoned my wand... ugly Voldemort baby was there too, but then he was there with a grown up body," he told haltingly and in a small voice, before stopping again.

His expression turned to a really pained one, and he shivered harder, before speaking again. "Hurt... hurt too much," he said in a childish voice. "But Fawkes came and took me away," he finished in a relieved tone, and he relaxed just slightly.

Dumbledore sighed sadly, and all the humour that was practically always present on the headmaster's features was missing, and he was looking grave. "Madam Pomfrey will be here soon, and it won't hurt for long, Harry," he said soothingly, but Harry didn't seem to hear him.

There was a short but heavy silence that was broken when the doors of the Hospital Wing opened and Madam Pomfrey walked in with Professor McGonagall. They both seemed to be surprised about seeing the headmaster there.

"Professor Dumbledore," Madam Pomfrey said surprised, but then she noticed Harry lying on the bed. "Oh, dear, what's happened to him?" she asked concernedly and she was next to Harry's bed in a flash.

"He has a nasty cut on his forearm, I think he's had a blunt hit on his head and he's most likely been struck by the Cruciatus curse," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Oh, dear," Madam Pomfrey said again, but this time she was horrified and Professor McGonagall gasped behind her. Madam Pomfrey quickly left to her office.

"Minerva? Would you check the quarters of Professor Moody?" Dumbledore asked McGonagall. "And take someone with you," he added with a worried tone as an afterthought.

"Of course, Headmaster," she replied solemnly with a nod, before marching out of the Hospital Wing sternly.

Madam Pomfrey returned soon from her office, carrying several different potions, but before giving any of them to Harry, she ran her wand over his body, muttering some spells, and she actually seemed relieved from what she learned.

"The cut on his arm will heal quickly, although it will leave a scar, and he has a concussion, but most importantly the Cruciatus Curse hasn't done any lasting damage to him, and fortunately he is young enough to recover from it quickly," Madam Pomfrey said with relief to Dumbledore, since Harry seemed to be quite out of it. "With some sleep and a couple of potions, he should be fine in a day or at most two," she added.

"Is it possible to keep him awake for a bit?" Dumbledore asked, looking apologetic even at the thought of it.

"Yes, but he really needs rest," Madam Pomfrey said weightily. "The curse is still affecting him and the reduced state of consciousness is protecting him from the worst of the pain," she added matter-of-factly.

"I only need a moment," Dumbledore sighed sadly.

Madam Pomfrey clearly disapproved of the headmaster's request but still she fed Harry all but one of the potions she had brought with her. In just a few seconds Harry was looking much more clear-headed but he was also looking even more pained now and his face scrunched up in agony.

"Harry, can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore asked him gently.

Harry's eyes focused on Dumbledore, but then he averted his eyes and looked thoughtful under the pain for a moment, before starting to speak. "We... we were going to watch the second task, but Professor Moody interrupted us and said he wanted to talk with me," he started with a weak and shaky voice.

"He led me to the Forbidden Forest and there he suddenly Portkeyed us somewhere. It was somewhere with a graveyard and a large house. I tried to fight against Moody, but then Wormtail surprised me and tied me to a gravestone with some spell. Professor Moody took away my wand, and together he and Wormtail readied a huge cauldron with some kind of liquid in it," Harry continued his tale and kept a short pause.

"Wormtail brought Voldemort, who had a small body, like a cross between a snake and a baby, and he put him in the cauldron and then he started some kind of a ritual. For the ritual he needed 'the bone of the father', 'flesh of a servant' and 'the blood of the enemy'," Harry recited from his memory.

"He took my blood," he added with a troubled voice and turned to look at Dumbledore, who was looking really serious, but didn't say anything, so Harry continued his story.

"I... I managed to summon Wormtail's dagger and cut myself free from the gravestone, and then I summoned my wand and almost got away from there, but Voldemort came and he now had a grown up body, just like he used to be. He fought against me, and I... I think he cast the Cruciatus Curse on me," Harry told and he stopped for a moment and shivered with a completely hollow look on his face, very much like Sirius looked whenever he was reminded of the Dementors.

"But then Fawkes appeared and carried me away," Harry finished and again the thought of the phoenix eased the turmoil he was feeling, and he seemed to be relieved a bit.

"Thank you, Harry," Dumbledore said gratefully and he nodded to Madam Pomfrey.

"Drink this, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said and she gave Harry the last of the potions.

In just a few seconds Harry started feeling really tired and he was quickly overcome by the sweet oblivion of deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Harry awoke gradually to the muffled voices of someone arguing. He kept his eyes closed for now, as he also became aware of a dull ache all around his body, and it soon reminded him of what had happened before he had fallen asleep, and he also realized the fact that he was most probably still in the Hospital Wing. The arguing voices stole his attention, though, and from the muffled tone of them, Harry knew that they were most likely coming from just outside the Hospital Wing. 

"I can't announce that You-Know-Who has returned based on some glory-seeking, cock-and-bull story of a kid, Dumbledore. I would be made laughing stock in the Ministry and the public," said an irritated voice that Harry recognized belonging to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Potter entered himself into the Tournament underhandedly, and he has made trouble before, and still you believe his childish stories about You-Know-Who!" Fudge added accusingly.

"Harry holds my utmost confidence and you'd know that he is well worth it, if you only paid more attention to the real people instead of what you might hear about them in the public," Dumbledore replied calmly. "You could at least investigate into the matter, if nothing else. By outright denying it you only play to Voldemort's pocket, Cornelius," he tried to reason with the Minister.

"For Merlin's sake Dumbledore!" Fudge exclaimed, obviously shaken by the name of the Dark Lord. "You've held your position for too long and time has clearly clouded your judgement. I will make an announcement that Barty Crouch junior is at large but that's all! Good day," he said sharply with finality in his words, and Harry could hear the Minister stomping off.

Harry listened to the heavy silence for a moment, but then he finally opened his eyes to look around, and he saw that it was dark outside and the torches were lit, casting their slowly and serenely dancing light on the Hospital Wing. He saw Hermione sitting on a chair next to his bed, immersed in a book, and seeing her made him smile inside. Next to her, on another chair was Ron, who seemed to be fast asleep, but the thing that really caught Harry's attention was a big black dog at the foot of his bed.

"Sirius?" Harry tried to say, but his throat was parched and it came out as a weak croak.

Both Sirius and Hermione heard it anyway, and Sirius raised his dog head to look at Harry, while Hermione lifted her eyes up from the book and she perked up when she noticed him being awake.

"Harry, you're awake!" she said happily and she hastily stowed away her book, before elbowing Ron awake and jumping up on her feet. "Are you okay? Do you need something?" she quickly asked him with a concerned voice, while Ron abruptly woke up and shook himself awake.

"Harry!" Ron said surprised. "You okay mate?" he then asked.

Meanwhile Sirius had jumped off the bed and had transformed to his human shape and he was now looking at Harry concernedly. "Are you all right, Harry?" he too asked.

"Yeah, just a bit sore," Harry answered all of them, his voice still a croak. "And I could use some water," he added, holding his throat because talking felt really uncomfortable.

Hermione took a glass of water from a night table and offered it to him. He took the glass from her gratefully and drank a few sips, his throat immediately feeling much better, before he placed the glass back on the night table.

"Thanks," he said to Hermione, who just smiled a bit as a response.

"I just knew it, something was bound to happen when you got out of the Tournament. They just had to have some other plan," Sirius interrupted with an agitated and slightly self-accusatory tone.

"It's not your fault," Harry replied, but then he looked surprised. "Sirius? How come you're here?" he asked, realizing that the Hospital Wing they were in was a public place where just about anyone in the castle could enter at any moment.

"I was already making my way towards the Hogsmeade, as I wanted to meet you on the next Hogsmeade day. So, I came here directly when I got a word from Dumbledore that you had been attacked again," Sirius told. "I actually sent you a message by owl, asking the date of the next Hogsmeade day, but it seems that I made it here before the owl," he added with a smile.

Harry replied to the smile, feeling good that there were people that really cared for him that much. "But Sirius, won't you be seen?" he asked with obvious concern for his godfather's safety.

"Madam Pomfrey and some teachers know about me now, so it's not such a big risk, especially as Dumbledore wanted you to have some privacy and he put a Privacy Charm on this part of the room," Sirius said appeasingly.

Harry looked around more closely, and he saw that he was indeed in the most remote corner of the Hospital Wing, and then he also noticed Professor Moody lying on another hospital bed, sleeping it seemed, and he was looking quite the worse for wear; he was very pale and gaunt, like he had been malnourished for a long time, and he was also missing his artificial leg and eye. Despite his appearance, Harry couldn't help feeling surge of anger at seeing the person who had seemingly betrayed him to Voldemort.

"What is _he _doing here?" Harry asked coolly from no one in particular.

"That you will hear soon, Harry," answered the voice of Professor Dumbledore. None of them had seen the headmaster enter the Hospital Wing and they were all a bit startled at his voice.

"I'm truly sorry that your life has been threatened once again in Hogwarts, Harry," Dumbledore said apologetically, as he came to stand next to Harry's bed. "But I believe you would like to know how it all happened?" he asked then, cheering up a bit.

"Yes, sir, I would," Harry replied politely with an eager nod.

"It all really boils down to me placing my trust on someone who wasn't who he claimed to be," Dumbledore said mysteriously. "But I'm getting ahead in the story," he added after seeing Harry's confused look.

"Let's see..." Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "The second task was just finishing, and I was still there, when Fawkes appeared, and he seemed to be very distressed about something, so I excused myself and followed him to my office, where I found you," Dumbledore started the story, looking at Harry. "It seems that Fawkes once again knew you were in danger and wanted to help you out," Dumbledore added fondly, before sobering and continuing with the story.

"As you might remember, I took you to the Hospital Wing, where I asked you to tell me what had happened, while we waited for Madam Pomfrey. From your story I gathered that Professor Moody had somehow been involved in a plot to get you to Voldemort, and when Poppy appeared with Minerva, I told her to go and check Professor Moody's quarters. What she found was quite shocking indeed," Dumbledore told, adding the last in a curious tone, and he kept a short pause.

"She found Professor Moody inside a magical trunk, bound and very malnourished, and she of course brought him here for some medical attention. Professor Moody told us that he had been locked inside that trunk for months, ever since the summer, and he had been kept alive so that his hairs could be used for Polyjuice Potion to disguise someone as him," Dumbledore said, keeping just a short pause again, and Harry could hear Hermione's surprised intake of breath.

"And that someone was Barty Crouch junior, a convicted Death Eater, who had been presumed to be dead," Dumbledore added emphatically.

Harry didn't know exactly what to think about it, but he noticed from the corner of his eye that Hermione and Ron seemed to be quite shocked by the news, while it seemed that Sirius had already known it, and Harry presumed that Sirius had already talked with Dumbledore about it.

Then Dumbledore sighed and continued speaking. "So, it has been Barty Crouch junior that has really taught your DADA classes, disguised as Moody, and he was almost certainly the one that put your name in the Goblet too. And most importantly, it was also him that kidnapped you with the Portkey and took you to Voldemort for the ritual, while the real Alastor Moody was locked in a trunk for the whole time," he summed up the story.

It took Harry a second to let it all sink in, but then he turned to look at Professor Moody again. "Is the real Professor Moody okay?" he asked concernedly, seeing that the gnarled professor was looking almost lifeless on the hospital bed, now that anger wasn't affecting his perception.

Dumbledore seemed to be glad for his question. "He is, considering that he has been locked inside a trunk for several months with very little food and water, and he should be fit to continue teaching your DADA classes after a week or two of recovering," he said somewhat seriously, but then he smiled before continuing.

"It took us quite a bit of convincing to get him to stay here in the Hospital Wing at all, because Alastor – quite understandably, I think – felt like this was a way too open place to be secure," he said, smiling amusedly.

But then Dumbledore sobered again before continuing. "But he needs medical attention, of course, and it was much better for him to stay here for at least the beginning of his healing process," he said.

Harry felt glad that the real Moody would be okay, and now that his concern about that was eased, he started thinking of his own situation. "But, Professor?" Harry asked after a moment, and continued when he had the attention of the headmaster.

"Why did the fake Moody put my name in the Goblet? I mean, if they needed me alive for the ritual, then why would they want to have me killed?" he asked puzzled, but there was also a troubled undertone in his voice – something he really couldn't help with, considering the topic – and Harry could see the others being interested about it too.

"I don't think it was their intention to have you die in the Tournament, Harry," Dumbledore said heavily. "It is only a guess, of course, but I believe that Voldemort wanted to somehow use the Tournament to get you to him without exposing Professor Moody, although I don't know how he was going to do that," he finished thoughtfully, and he was silent for a moment, before shaking the thought off and continuing.

"What you need to remember is that Voldemort had already managed to infiltrate Hogwarts with his spy, and even more importantly for him, it was someone that I and most others trusted implicitly. He could have benefited enormously if he had managed to keep that spy among us," Dumbledore explained seriously.

"But when the Tournament plot failed, I believe Voldemort got impatient, because he needed you for the ritual and to regain his body, and so he decided to take a more direct course of action – something that would get you to him at any cost," Dumbledore finished.

As Harry thought about it, he glanced around at the others, and he saw that Hermione was looking at him with sympathy, while Ron was still looking surprised. Sirius was more hard to read, but he seemed to be deeply troubled.

Dumbledore soon broke the silence again. "As you might have already heard, Minister Fudge doesn't believe that Voldemort has returned and I'm afraid that not many others are going to believe it either, with nothing more as a proof than your word, Harry," he said with a sad sigh.

"But, Professor, shouldn't this be told to the public? Don't they have the right to know about it?" Hermione interjected fervently.

"Yes, I do agree with you on that Miss Granger, but I'm afraid Cornelius was right about one thing; we would most likely be laughed at if we just outright started telling that Voldemort has returned. And losing our creditability at this moment could have very undesirable consequences in the future," Dumbledore replied reasonably. "But rest assured that we have already started our efforts against Voldemort, even if we are not public about it, and we are doing everything we can about it," he then added reassuringly.

Hermione seemed to be relieved to hear that, but Harry thought that she wasn't looking totally satisfied, and he was quite sure that she would have probably wanted to do more about it; especially something that she could have helped with herself, if he knew her at all. But his thoughts were soon interrupted when Dumbledore spoke again.

"That also means that we cannot tell the real reason why Harry and Professor Moody are in the Hospital Wing, should someone ask about it. Instead I think it would be best to tell that you two were attacked in the forest, when Professor Moody wanted to show Harry some magical creature for DADA – which wouldn't be that unlikely since I believe you are the top student of your class, Harry?" Dumbledore told them and finished with the question to Harry.

"Yes, I think I am, sir," Harry replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the praise.

"Good," Dumbledore replied with a nod. "So, it would make sense that Professor Moody wanted to show you some creature he found in the forest, and when you were unfortunately attacked, he bore the brunt of the attack, while you, Harry, managed to get through it mostly unscathed," Dumbledore said, and there was a slight questioning tone in his voice, indicating that he wanted to know what the others thought about it.

Everyone nodded or shrugged their approval, even Harry, who's mind was otherwise occupied. Talking about an attack had reminded him of the scene at the graveyard, and there was one thing that really puzzled him about it.

"Something bothering you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, seeing his expression.

"I just remembered something... odd," Harry replied, looking at Dumbledore, and he hesitated a bit before continuing. "At the graveyard, Voldemort said that the Black Serpent would be resurrected, and that this time the White Phoenix wouldn't be there to save the day. I think he meant himself by the Black Serpent, but I'm not sure if he meant me or something else by the White Phoenix," he told a bit uncertainly, but it wasn't the headmaster that answered first.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "Voldemort thinks he's the reincarnation of Morgan le Fay, or something like that?" she asked in amused disbelief.

Dumbledore had looked somewhat surprised at Harry's words, but then he turned to look at Hermione, now really surprised. "You've heard of the Black Serpent before, Miss Granger?" he asked her.

"Uhm, well, yes, I have," Hermione replied a bit uncertainly. "I was interested in the Arthurian legends when I was younger and Morgan le Fay was called that in one obscure source I read," she told.

"Indeed? I wasn't aware that Muggles knew about that legend," Dumbledore mused, before he focused inwards and seemed to be trying to remember something.

Harry was suddenly struck by an odd feeling of ancientness as he observed Dumbledore going back in his memories, who knows how many years past, and he realized that he had no idea how old the headmaster actually was, but at that moment he would not have been surprised to hear that he was two hundred years old. The people in the magical world seemed to live longer than muggles, after all.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore finally said mostly to himself with a smile on his face. "That is not quite correct, but still somewhat close to what I have heard about it," he said, now focusing back on the present and those listening to him.

"It is an old legend from beyond written history of the Wizarding Britain, and like so many other old stories, it has been nearly forgotten and lost in history centuries ago, and I don't believe there are many that know about it at all. I have never heard the whole story in its entirety, but I do know a shorter version of it, and I don't think it's too long of a tale to tell here," Dumbledore said, finishing thoughtfully, but soon he continued again.

"The story I'm about to tell you took place in the time that is called the Dark Ages by the muggles, because very little history is preserved from that time, just after the downfall of the Ancient Empires. For the magical world the name is doubly true, because that age also witnessed a rise of the Dark Arts like never seen before, and there were many dark lords and ladies at that time," Dumbledore told them.

"So... this is the shorter version of the story of the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent as I heard it a long time ago from someone who knew the full tale," he then said, before keeping a short pause, and when he continued speaking again, there was something ethereal and captivating in his voice, something that completely enthralled Harry, Hermione, Ron and Sirius in just seconds.

"In the times of old, when magic was still young in Britain, there were small magical communities all around the island, and one of these villages was to be the home of the most feared dark wizard of the time, and perhaps off all times ever since. He was born to a respected Wizarding family, and from very early age he was praised as the smartest child that had ever been seen in the whole village. Starting from very early childhood, he was able to learn simple spells, and as he grew older, he learned even the more difficult branches of magic with little difficulty, and he even started coming up with spells of his own when he came to his teens. And, as if that wasn't enough, he had a special magical gift that no one had ever heard of before, but a gift that would soon be associated closely with dark magic – he was born with the ability to speak with snakes."

"Everyone was expecting the child to become a scholar of magic, perhaps extending the known limits of magic in his lifetime, but unfortunately that was not to be. In his teen years, the child became very fascinated with snakes, no doubt stemming from his ability to talk with them, and he started withdrawing himself from all other children of his age, choosing to devote his time with snakes instead."

"Whether it's true or not, it has been said that the snakes seduced him towards the Dark Arts of magic, and as he continued growing up, he quickly became shunned by everyone, even including his own parents, for expressing such an interest in Dark Magic, and the other kids started bullying him, and calling him by names like Forked Tongue or Snake or the most popular, sometimes used even by the grown ups, Twisted Snake. The bullying stopped and everyone grew to fear the young genius, when bad things started happening to those who dared to bully him – they would just suddenly get horribly ill or be involved in freak accidents – and so the bullying turned to fear and everyone tried to avoid the Twisted Snake as much as possible."

"One morning, not long after, the village woke up in shock and horror, when the parents of the Twisted Snake were found dead in their own house, and their son was nowhere to be seen. At first it was presumed that someone had killed the parents and kidnapped their child, but everyone knew where to place the blame when it was discovered that the deaths had been caused by snake venom – it seemed that the Twisted Snake had had enough of the small village and had left, but not before leaving behind his mark. Once they had recovered from the shock and grieved for the loss of two prominent members of their community, the whole village sighed in relief when it seemed that the evil child was gone for good."

"As the years passed, the Twisted Snake was all but forgotten and the whole story became just that – a story that was sometimes used to scare the children into behaving by threatening them with the evil Twisted Snake that would come and eat them if they misbehaved. But one day, decades later, and after he had travelled far and wide in search of everything dark and everything considering snakes and serpents, the Twisted Snake returned, and it was in his old home village that he started his rise to power as a dark lord."

"Single handedly he destroyed almost the whole village in a senseless massacre, and only few escaped to tell the tales of horror and warn others from an evil threat that was beyond anything they had ever seen before. Despite being laughed at first by disbelieving people, the tales of the Black Serpent, as he was now called, quickly spread over the lands, as he travelled around the Britain, leaving behind death and destruction. He also started gathering followers from among the witches and wizards that practised the Dark Arts, and in a very short time, he left the marks of his power and the fear of him, on many of the magical communities in Britain."

"There were those who believed that they could stand against him, and many challenged the Black Serpent at first, but he had delved so deeply into the Dark Arts, and so huge was the depth of his knowledge and talent in magic, that very few could last long against him in a magical duel, and even those who could were helpless when faced with a whole new form of magic he had developed; the Black Serpent had loved snakes so deeply and had studied them so intensely that he had become able to turn into one at will. But where regular snakes were usually small and only dangerous for their poison, the Black Serpent could turn into a huge black snake that could crush people under it or easily bite them in half, and, as if that wasn't enough, there was no spell nor blade that could penetrate its thick black skin. So the Black Serpent triumphed above all other magicians and none was able to stop him."

"The numbers of those who dared to openly oppose him quickly diminished, as many villages were raided and pillaged by the followers of the Black Serpent, and so feared he became that even his real name was soon forgotten because none dared to utter it aloud – not even his own followers – and soon 'Black Serpent' became his one and only name."

"Just when all the hope of anyone ever overcoming the Black Serpent was fading, a new hope arrived in the form of a young woman and her two companions. No one knew where she came from, and no one knew who she was, but her fame quickly grew, because she was among the few who dared to stand against the followers of the Black Serpent, and she was the only one that never backed down from them, nor lost a battle against them."

"As she travelled around, helping in the fight against the darkness, and bringing new hope to the hearts of people, the tales of her deeds were soon known by everyone, and with those tales everyone also came to know of her companions; they were creatures only known from myths in the Britain of that time, but soon everyone knew about the song of the birds that brought new hope to the hearts of the good people, even in the darkest moments of despair. Because of her companions, the unknown traveller became known as the Phoenix Tamer."

"But the name of the Phoenix Tamer was soon to reach the ears of the Black Serpent too, and as his followers seemed to be too weak to oppose the new obstacle in his path to ultimate power, he decided to act on it himself, and there was no doubt in his mind that he would win this fight too, just as he had won dozens of others with the most powerful wizards and witches of the time."

"Some time later the Phoenix Tamer and the Black Serpent finally met each other in the highlands of the northern Britain, and despite the fear that the Black Serpent struck in the hearts of everyone, the Phoenix Tamer had renewed the hope and courage of many. As such there were some that found themselves near the scene, wanting to witness the battle that was to ensue, despite their fear of the Black Serpent and his followers."

"The Black Serpent appeared arrogantly with triumph etched on his face, and he mocked the Phoenix Tamer for soon being just another greatness fallen at his feet, and as she did not rise to the words nor show any sign of fear, the Black Serpent began the battle furiously, wanting to show everyone just what happened to those who dared to oppose him. So, the Black Serpent started throwing the darkest and most powerful spells he knew at the Phoenix Tamer, but instead of falling to the deadly spells, she just calmly deflected and dodged all of them and their effects, and she even countered them with offensive spells of her own."

"So strong had been the fear over the hearts of the people, that despite the new hope that the Phoenix Tamer had brought, few had really dared to expect her to able to offer even a challenge to the Black Serpent himself, but as the battle went on, that started changing. While it seemed that the Black Serpent was more experienced and powerful in magic, thanks to his greater age, the Phoenix Tamer in turn was more clever and used plenty of quick tricks to counter the magical attacks of the Black Serpent, and she managed to hold her own against the most feared wizard ever, and there was still no trace of fear nor worry on her features."

"The hope was short lived, though, when the moment came that everyone had been fearing and expecting; the Black Serpent had had enough of the magical duel, and he decided that it was time to end the battle now. He stopped the fighting but for a second to transform to his snake form, and when the people surrounding the scene saw the huge black snake forming, their hearts fell, as it seemed that the fight was over. After all, what could one person do to a hundred feet long snake that could not be hurt by any spells nor weapons?"

"However, the Phoenix Tamer was not to be bested so easily, and the watchers of the fight that was soon to grow to an epic battle, witnessed a miracle as the Phoenix Tamer turned to a brilliant white phoenix, and with her song she called out to her two companions who appeared almost instantly, and the Black Serpent found himself faced against three mythical creatures; phoenixes of green, red and white."

"It seemed that the Black Serpent had finally met his match, and everyone in the vicinity was entranced by the battle, knowing that it would ultimately decide their fates, and even the small fights that had been going on between the followers of the Black Serpent and the others who had come to watch the battle stopped, as the three phoenixes faced the biggest and most dangerous serpent that ever lived."

"For hours the battle went on, as the phoenixes did daring attacks against the gigantic snake with their long and sharp talons, that were miraculously able to bite into the thick skin of the snake. But even so, it seemed that they were doing nothing more than scratches that merely annoyed the Black Serpent and he mostly just ignored the attacks, as he did feint attacks towards the helpless bystanders to draw the phoenixes to its reach, so that it could bite them. Ultimately two of the phoenixes, the green and red ones lied dead on the ground, and the single white phoenix was left, lamenting its dead fellows with a heartbreaking song that even the hearts of the most hardened criminals could not withstand without being deeply affected – except for the Black Serpent, who continued his attacks just as viciously as ever before."

"With a rage renewed from the sight of its dead kin, the White Phoenix attacked even more ferociously against the abominable serpent, and she seemed to be tireless in her rage. Her attacks were now so blindingly fast, that the huge snake seemed to be completely unable to respond to them, and the Black Serpent found himself in a defending position against someone for the first time in a long time. Infuriated about that, the snake tried to respond to the attacks, but it was powerless against the rage of the phoenix who had just lost its companions, and so the Black Serpent found himself looking for an escape, before he could be seriously harmed by the enraged bird."

"There was no escape from a creature that moved faster than the eye, though, and no matter how the Black Serpent tried to slither away from her, the White Phoenix always followed him and she continued her fight driven by the love she still felt for its fallen companions, and the Black Serpent soon started to panic. It stopped trying to escape, knowing that it was useless, and instead tried to once again respond to the attacks of the phoenix. For three times the huge black snake managed to deliver a blow against the fierce bird with its head, and despite it never managing to really bite her, the White Phoenix should have fallen from just one of those brutal hits, but instead she just continued the battle without any sign of being hurt or needing to slow down."

"The people who had been watching the battle had followed the serpent and the phoenix the best they could, and even more onlookers had gathered around the scene, as the White Phoenix finally sunk her talons deep to the head of the enormous snake, and for a short moment the whole scene stood frozen and absolutely still. Then the snake fell down on the ground, hissing frantically and trashing its head from side to side, as the White Phoenix still continued her attacks on the creature, each time sinking its talons deeper and deeper to the skull of the Black Serpent, and soon the snake's movement started to slow down and abate and soon it was lying still on the ground, and a thick silence cascaded on the scene, as everyone watching waited for something to happen, some kind of a sign that the Black Serpent was still alive and would continue its fight, but nothing happened."

"Then the White Phoenix landed silently next to the head of the snake and sang a brief triumphant note. Despite the fact that many of the people watching the scene had never seen nor heard a phoenix before, everyone understood that simple note of song and knew that the darkest and most feared wizard of the time was dead, and most of the onlookers exploded in triumphant shouts and yells, while the followers of the Black Serpent stared at the scene in disbelief."

"Just as quickly as it had started, all the noise died immediately, as the White Phoenix started to sing again. This time her song held so deep pain and loss in it, that it immediately stopped everyone around, and instead of celebrating their victory, everyone was now again staring at the phoenix, totally entranced by its incredibly beautiful song that was laced with more sadness than anyone's heart could endure, and almost at once everyone in the vicinity that could hear the song sat or fell down on the ground, and soon they were all crying their hearts out."

"The White Phoenix had been victorious, but not without losses, and after lamenting her lost companions for an indescribable time, the bird suddenly fled off, high in the air, and disappeared, leaving behind a large group of emotionally drained people. Later, when some of the people returned to the place where the battle had started, they did not find the corpses of the green and red phoenixes, and there was no sign of them ever being there, not even a single feather, just as there was no sign of the White Phoenix, and she would indeed never be seen again," Dumbledore finished the tale and lapsed into a silence.

Harry had been totally captivated by the story, and now he was a bit startled to notice that they were still in the Hospital Wing, but he also saw that Ron, Hermione and Sirius seemed to have been just as entranced in the story, and they too looked somewhat surprised and none of them seemed to be willing to break the moment by speaking. Hermione's eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and Harry saw that Ron too had been deeply moved by the story, even if he tried to hide it. Sirius, on the other hand, wasn't showing any clear emotions besides sadness, but Harry could tell that he too had been deeply affected.

"That's the story of the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent as I've heard it," Dumbledore said quietly, finally breaking the silence and the atmosphere. "The full story is much longer, detailing how the Black Serpent lived for years with snakes and learned dark magic from them, including his ability to turn into one, and it also tells how the White Phoenix saved a community of phoenixes, far away, and as a thank-you received her two companions and the gift of being able to turn into a phoenix," he told them. "But I believe those parts are later additions to the original story, and almost certainly purely speculative," he added as an afterthought.

"But what's that got to do with me and Voldemort?" Harry finally asked in a slightly hushed tone, after another moment of silence.

"I'm afraid I can only give you guesses about that," Dumbledore sighed. "Obviously Voldemort knows more about the legend and thinks that there is something connecting him to the legendary Black Serpent, although I don't know what that is, as I don't really know the legend that well," he continued and lapsed to a short thoughtful silence.

"There are of course a couple of things that seem to loosely connect Voldemort to the Black Serpent, and, conversely, also you to the White Phoenix," Dumbledore said, looking at Harry for a moment, but then he turned back to address all of his listeners. Harry was listening to the headmaster raptly.

"As everyone these days would know after hearing the legend, the Black Serpent was obviously a Parselmouth, just like Voldemort is and has always been. The Black Serpent apparently was also a snake Animagus – a Basilisk it would seem – but I consider it very unlikely that Voldemort is one, as no one, not even his followers, have ever heard anything to implicate that," Dumbledore told them thoughtfully.

"Then there is also your connection with Fawkes, and possibly other phoenixes as well, and that connects you to the White Phoenix, and it is possible that you surviving the Killing Curse also has something to do with it," Dumbledore mused, and Harry remembered Voldemort's reference to the fateful Halloween night at the graveyard.

"If only we knew more about the legend, or even better the real history of those events, we'd perhaps understand Voldemort better, but sadly very little is known about those," Dumbledore added more sadly than frustrated.

Hermione perked up at hearing that. "So, there is some real history about the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent, and the story is real?" she asked interestedly. "Is it known who those two are from the legend, and did Morgan le Fay really have something to do with the Black Serpent?" she added hastily.

Dumbledore smiled a bit at her zeal for more knowledge, before he answered her question. "Yes, there are a few things that connect the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent with known historical characters. While it is not very commonly known these days, Morgan le Fay called her master 'Black Serpent' in her writings, and the one I heard the legend from had actually read her writings, and believed that it was the very same Black Serpent as the one in the legend. And it would also fit in with the time line of the history, as it is quite certain that the legend comes from a time long before Merlin, and Morgan le Fay was known to have been much older than Merlin, and it's also known that her master had died a long time before she met Merlin for the first time," Dumbledore told them, and especially Hermione and Harry were listening to him raptly, but Sirius, and even Ron, seemed to be interested about it too.

"The same person also suggested – and I quite agree with him – that the White Phoenix is someone you might have heard called by the name of Alanna the Everliving," Dumbledore added with a slightly questioning tone.

Hermione perked up immediately at hearing the name, but she needed a second to go through her impressive memory, and Harry was faster to reply than she was.

"Um, wasn't she the tutor of Merlin?" Harry asked slightly uncertainly, remembering what the book he had received from Hermione had told, and from the corner of his eye he could see Hermione nodding eagerly, agreeing with him.

"Yes, that she was indeed," Dumbledore replied. "She is a mysterious character because practically nothing is known about her, besides what little Merlin writes about her, and even that is somewhat inconsistent. If the White Phoenix really is the same person as the Alanna that taught Merlin, it would mean that she would have had to have been really old by the time she met Merlin, and that is actually supported by Merlin himself; one of the few things that Merlin wrote about Alanna, was mentioning that she was – according to her own words – over 'two hundred summers old' when she met Merlin and took him as her protégé. She taught Merlin for about 30 years more, before she disappears from Merlin's journals, so Merlin calling her 'Everliving' seems quite justified," he told, finishing with a small smile.

"Merlin also tells about Alanna that, 'she battled a great evil in her youth, although she isn't very willing to talk about it,' and that would be quite understandable if she lost her phoenix companions in the fight, as the bond between a phoenix and their companion is very strong, and I'm sure that she felt the loss for the rest of her life," Dumbledore told seriously, but also somewhat sadly.

"And then there is the fact that Alanna seems to have been even more powerful magically than Merlin himself was, and Merlin certainly doesn't hold his praises about his mentor. Of course it is possible that Merlin exaggerated Alanna's magical proficiency, especially earlier in his journals, but that doesn't seem very likely, since Merlin is usually very rational and logical in all parts of his journals, and that's actually one of the reasons why they are still held in such a high esteem among magical scholars," Dumbledore mused.

"However, It does seem a bit unlikely that such a powerful witch wouldn't have been known by anyone except for Merlin. But then again, Morgan le Fay is also very little known person, despite being a very powerful Dark Lady of the time, and almost nothing is known about her either besides of a chapter in Merlin's journals about his fight with her, and some further details that Merlin told to his later students, who in turn wrote them down," Dumbledore continued.

"But there is also an inconsistency," Dumbledore then said with a sigh. "In the legend Alanna is described as a 'young woman' when she faces the Black Serpent, and if she was indeed over two hundred years old by the time she met Merlin, then she would have been at least several decades older than Morgan le Fay and would have had to have been quite a bit older in the legend. Assuming that the legend has it right, the only reasonable way to explain that would be her ageing slower than what the average magical people does, and that would actually make sense since reaching the age of two hundred years is almost unheard of even in the magical world, and if what she told Merlin was true, she lived to be over 230 years old. Then it would also explain how a seemingly young person could best a very powerful dark lord with decades of experience in the Dark Arts, if she indeed aged slower and merely appeared young," Dumbledore finished his explanation.

"But what does all that _mean_?" Harry asked after a moment in a slightly desperate tone. "If Voldemort thinks that he's the new Black Serpent, and there are things connecting me to the White Phoenix, does it mean that we have something to do with the legend too?" he continued, feeling quite overwhelmed by all of it.

"The story about the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent is just that; a legend," Dumbledore replied. "There are things connecting you and Tom to the story, but why that is, I have no idea. For all we know it could be just a coincidence. But whatever the reason is, it won't change the fact that Tom seems to be very interested about the legend, and he will certainly associate you with the White Phoenix more than ever, now that you were saved by Fawkes from the graveyard. Especially as I'm sure that he has also heard about what happened to you in the first task, although I don't know if he can make the connection between dragons and phoenixes," he said thoughtfully, but then his expression and voice softened to sympathetic ones.

"In practise, I think it means that – as much as it pains me to admit it – that Tom is going to think of you as an obstacle in his new rise to power more than ever and that will certainly make him even more determined to... well, find a way to remove that obstacle from his path," he said sadly and with a heavy heart.

It was a startling thought, but for Harry it just confirmed something that he had suspected for some time, even if he hadn't wanted to consciously think about – that Voldemort would not stop haunting his life until either of them was dead. Of course the thought troubled him somewhat, despite him having expected it, but it seemed that the others were more affected than himself by what Dumbledore had told.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered quietly under his breath, looking totally shocked.

Hermione, on the other hand, was looking horrified and shocked, and she shook her head slightly in a desperate denial. Uncharacteristically for her, she didn't even react to Ron's cursing at all, and didn't seem to hear it at all, as she seemed to be too overwhelmed for the moment to do anything.

Sirius' face took on a pained and sad expression, and when he turned to look at Harry, there was a look in his eyes that told that Sirius was greatly burdened by what Dumbledore had told. But when Sirius saw that Harry wasn't looking scared at all by the news, the look in his eyes turned determined and proud instead.

"Yes, that isn't something we should dwell too much on – what will come will come," Dumbledore said encouragingly, breaking the silence that was getting too heavy.

"Sir? Is it possible for us to get an access to the papers of Morgan le Fay and other things that we might use to learn more about the legend?" Hermione asked firmly, and Harry was surprised to see that all trace of shock had now left her features, and she was looking fiercely determined instead.

"I've been thinking of that myself actually, ever since Harry told about Tom mentioning the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent," Dumbledore replied.

"Yes, I think I might be able to get an access to the papers of Morgan le Fay, but I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult to find anything more about the legend itself. It was a long time ago that I heard it, and since the person who told it to me passed away, I don't know of anyone who knows more of it than I do," Dumbledore told seriously.

"I've only ever seen it referenced in writing a couple of times, both in very old books, and never have I seen even a verse of the original story in writing, and as such, I'm afraid there is perhaps only a handful of people that know about it at all," he said sadly.

"But I will, of course, look for anything that might give us a bit more knowledge about the matter, and if I do find something, I'll be sure to tell you about it," he added, somewhat more cheerfully.

Hermione nodded at that, still looking determined, although she was obviously a bit disappointed that there were no books that they could read about it.

"Now, that that's settled, there is one more thing I'd like to talk you about, Harry," Dumbledore then said. "The fact that Voldemort used your blood in the ritual has some quite serious consequences," he said, turning to look at Harry seriously.

It took Harry a moment to realize what Dumbledore meant, but then he remembered Voldemort's words at the graveyard. "Yeah, Voldemort said that my mother's sacrifice isn't protecting me any more," he replied to Dumbledore with the sadness that remembering his parents always brought to him.

"Yes, I'm afraid that is true," Dumbledore sighed. "It also means that you're no longer safe at your relatives' home and we need to find some other safe place for you to stay for this summer," he added.

For a moment Harry stared at nothingness and looked thoughtful, but then he broke the silence with a question. "Is that why I was put there? To keep me safe?" he asked quietly, surprising even himself with the open question.

Dumbledore sighed deeply. "It indeed wasn't the best decision to place you there," he then replied remorsefully.

"But no, that was only one of the reasons. Your parents didn't leave a will, and as Sirius, your godfather, wasn't able to care for you, there was really only two alternatives for you; either you could have been placed in an orphanage or given to your only living relatives. Of course, you would have been immediately adopted by one of the many Wizarding families – after the Halloween, most of them would have wanted to have you, had it been possible – but that would have led to a long legal proceeding, where the best family would have been decided for you and there is no telling what kind of a decision they would have ended up with. The possibility that you would have been given to a family that would have abused your celebrity status to their own gain was always there, and even worse, one of the supporters of Voldemort could have gained your custody, as some of them were and still are in high positions in the Ministry," Dumbledore explained.

"So, in that light it seemed like a very good choice to give you to your relatives' care, especially as your aunt's close blood relationship with you mother meant that the blood protection would keep you safe from Voldemort there. Petunia was never very fond of the magical world, but she didn't outright hate it either when she was younger – at least from what I know. I believe that she grew to hate the magical world only after the death of her parents and Lily, none of whom were very close to her at the time, but they were still close blood relatives of hers and they all died because of Voldemort... because of the magical world," Dumbledore finished with sadness and sympathy.

There was a short silence when Harry took it all in, but the silence wasn't broken by Harry, but instead it was Hermione who spoke.

"But didn't you keep any kind of watch over Harry? You just left him there?" she asked and there was a hint of resentment in her voice. Sirius nodded at the question, agreeing with her, and he too turned to look at Dumbledore expectantly, while Ron looked uncomfortable and like he didn't belong there.

"At the time I didn't know that Petunia would grow to hate the magical world, and I would have never guessed that she would also start disliking Harry because of it," Dumbledore answered them with a sigh.

"As I said, it seemed like the best decision at that time, and there wasn't really much that could have been done to it afterwards, as long as the Dursleys didn't start to outright abuse Harry," he finished apologetically.

"So, where am I going to go for the summer?" Harry interjected, wanting to change the subject. He asked the question from Dumbledore, but it was Sirius who answered first.

"I would have been more than happy to take you in, but of course I'm still on the run, so that just isn't possible," Sirius said with a sad shrug.

"Yes, I'm afraid that is true," Dumbledore said in kind but then he continued with a bit more cheery tone. "The final decision is yours of course, but one of the possibilities would be for you to stay here in Hogwarts," he told.

"Really? Could I stay here for the summer?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, if that is what you want. Hogwarts would be the ideal place for you now that you aren't protected at your Aunt's house any more, but there are other things that must be taken into consideration," Dumbledore said reasonably. "Hogwarts is mostly empty during the summers as the students and even the professors leave the castle during their holidays, and I'm afraid this would be quite a lonely place for someone to stay for that long," he told Harry.

"But you have until the summer to think about it and things might still change, so you should take all the time you need for deciding what you want to do," Dumbledore added after a short pause.

Harry was already quite certain that he wanted to stay in Hogwarts, as he wouldn't be able to stay with Sirius, and besides that the only place he could imagine of going to was the Burrow, and he really didn't want to impose on the Weasleys. Especially as it would mean putting them at the risk too, and he was also quite certain that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't consider Burrow to be safe enough for him, anyway. He wasn't really concerned about the loneliness either, since he was practically more lonely at the Dursleys during the summer; sure, he had people around him there, but they were people who despised him, and he always preferred to avoid the Dursleys as much as possible, and at least here he would be more free to come and go as he pleased.

"Oh, there was one more thing I was curious about in your story, Harry," Dumbledore said, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "You said that you summoned a dagger while you were bound to a gravestone?" Dumbledore asked Harry and his eyes were now twinkling merrily again.

Harry realised the implications of what he was saying and he looked towards Hermione. She gave him a small shrug as an answer, telling him that he could decide it himself whether he wanted to tell Dumbledore or not.

"We've been studying wandless magic with Hermione ever since I was chosen to be a champion in the Tournament," Harry told Dumbledore, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Sirius' mouth drop open in surprise.

Dumbledore had seemed amused at first, but after hearing what Harry said, he looked astonished, and it took him a moment to gather himself, before he could reply with anything. "So, you're saying that you've only practised for a few months and you can already do the Summoning Charm without a wand and even without hand gestures?" he asked somewhat incredulously, something that Harry had never heard in the headmasters voice before.

"Well, yes, that and some other, simpler spells," Harry replied slightly uncertainly.

"That's _remarkable_," Dumbledore said, clearly very impressed. "I thought that you had been training for a much longer time," he continued in the same impressed tone, but then he turned to Hermione. "Like Miss Granger here," he added with an amused smile, and Hermione blushed a bit under the attention.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger, your secret is safe with me. The headmaster merely has some ways to obtain information about what goes on in the castle, although it seems that they aren't as precise ways of gathering information as I thought," Dumbledore then said with a smile, looking between Harry and Hermione.

"It is truly extraordinary that you have learned wandless magic so quickly, Harry. I've known only a few people who could do it at all, and all of them had practised it for several years, while you have made a lot of progress in just a few months. I myself had to practise for better part of a year, before I could do any wandless magic at all, and even after that my progress was really slow," Dumbledore said, and Harry could see Hermione nod at that.

"You really seem to have a talent for wandless magic and I'd recommend that you continue with your studies, and if there's anything I might help you with, I'd be happy to," Dumbledore said, and looked at Harry and Hermione questioningly.

Harry couldn't think of anything from the top of his head. "I don't think there's anything we really need, at the moment," he said and looked at Hermione, who shook her head, although she looked thoughtful.

"Harry, did anyone see you doing wandless magic at the graveyard?" Dumbledore asked then, turning more serious again.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think that anyone saw me summoning the dagger, but Voldemort might have seen me summon my wand a bit later, and, well, I guess it's quite obvious that I had to escape somehow," he said uncertainly.

Dumbledore considered it for a second, before speaking thoughtfully. "I believe it would be wise to keep your wandless magic talent to yourself for now, in hopes that no one did see you use it, because it might prove out to be very useful one day," he said.

"Besides being unconscious, there isn't much that can stop one from using wandless magic, and it is very easy to underestimate someone that can do even elementary spells without the use of any magical device," Dumbledore added sagely.

"Now, unless you have anything further to ask, I should be on my way. I should get started in tracking down a copy of the papers of Morgan le Fay and there is some other business that I must attend to," Dumbledore said then.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Sirius all wished Dumbledore a good evening and he left the Hospital Wing after returning their wishes and he added one for a quick recovery for Harry.

"So, we learn to become Animagi during our school years, but you just had to up it a notch and learn wandless magic, didn't you?" Sirius said after Dumbledore was gone, looking at all three of them in turn, and he pretended to be hurt about it.

"Uhm, we're sorry?" Harry suggested with a grin. He didn't feel like telling that Ron wasn't studying wandless magic with them, and neither did Hermione nor Ron it seemed, since they didn't say anything about it.

"Oh, just think about all the pranks you could pull with that!" Sirius said eagerly, dropping the hurt expression and staring off to distance with an overly dramatic dreamy expression. "You could turn Snape's hair pink and he'd never be able to tell who did it!" he then said with merry excitement.

"Oh, or better yet, give him a pink tutu and make him sing _I'm a Little Tea Pot_," he added, and he started singing the song, having such a perfect impression of Snape's grouchy expression on his face that Harry couldn't help starting to laugh at it. He distinctly remarked that it was just what he needed at that moment, something to take his thoughts off of everything for a moment, but he soon forgot that thought too, as he continued watching Sirius' antics, and soon even Hermione was laughing, although somewhat reservedly.

Sadly their merriment was cut short way too soon by none other than Madam Pomfrey, as she approached them with an expression that clearly conveyed that she was less than happy about one of her patients taking part of such activity, and it was starting to get late anyway.

"All right, I want everyone out except for the patients!" she said in a commanding tone, that none usually dared to disobey. "Mr. Potter will need his rest to finish healing from that disgusting curse, and he can't rest with all of you making a racket in here, now can he?" she added, and all three of Harry's visitors prepared to go, despite looking reluctant to leave Harry by himself so soon.

"I will see you in the morning, Harry," Sirius said, grinned, and turned to his dog shape, before prancing out of the Hospital Wing – something that made Madam Pomfrey harrumph, clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah, see you mate," Ron said, glancing at Madam Pomfrey dubiously, before he too made a hasty retreat from the Hospital Wing, barely staying long enough to listen to Harry's reply, but Hermione still lingered there and she turned to the school healer.

"Will Harry be released tomorrow morning, Madam Pomfrey?" she asked her with an obvious concern for his well-being.

"Yes, he will. He is mostly healed from the curse already and just needs to stay for the night to make sure there aren't any lasting effects from it," the healer responded, her demeanour softening a little towards the concerned teenage witch.

"Thank you," Hermione replied politely to Madam Pomfrey, before turning to Harry. "I'll see you in the morning, Harry. Before breakfast," she said to him sweetly.

"Okay," Harry agreed with her. "See you then," he added. Unnoticed by himself, his tone had also turned softer and sweeter than usual.

Hermione smiled at him, before turning to go, but just before reaching the doors, she stopped and turned around. "Oh, and sleep well," she wished him.

"You too," Harry quickly replied and with another smile as a reply, Hermione walked out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Harry alone with Madam Pomfrey and the still sleeping Professor Moody.

"Well, I'm sure you know your way around by now, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, referring to the numerous times that Harry had been in the Hospital Wing, and despite there being no humour in her expression, Harry thought that he could still detect a slight hint of it in her tone.

"As I said, you should be mostly healed already, but you know how you can alert me, if you experience any severe pain or other symptoms during the night. Headache and slight dizziness are normal after a concussion, and you're probably still hurting somewhat by the after effects of the curse, but if there's anything worse, it's better to be safe than sorry," she told him matter-of-factly, before keeping a small pause.

"And do try to sleep well," she then added in an almost mother-like tone, before she too left, and Harry was finally left by himself in the Hospital Wing.

As usual whenever he was there, Harry had been brought a fresh set of pyjamas (he now thought that the house-elves did it), and seeing them, he realized that he was still in the dirty clothes he had worn for the day, and he was more than happy to get out of them and get a nice hot shower. The shower made him feel delightfully sleepy, and despite having so much to think about, having a slight headache, and having slept for most of the day, he fell asleep quickly and easily. His last conscious thought was of Hermione's sweet smile, and perhaps because of that he slept very well that night.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Hmm, is it just me or am I ending most of my chapters to Harry going to bed and falling asleep? 


	7. New Things to Learn

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.

AN: All right, here's the chapter seven, finally. I don't know exactly what it is, but I never really liked this chapter too much, and that made editing it very much like actual work, and at times it was downright boring and even tedious. But perhaps (and hopefully) that's just because the next couple of chapters have so much interesting scenes and stuff in them, and I'm really looking forward to get to them.

There are going to be two – or possibly three, if the chapters grow too much – more chapters before the end of the fourth year, and I have actually been considering splitting this story in two parts, with the second part being the fifth year and the summer before that, although I'm not sure about that yet. I have a couple of valid reasons for that, one being the fact that the books themselves are split by years, and it would make sense to go along with that, and then there's also the length of the story. The original, unedited version was only 115k words long, but I seem to have about doubled the length of each chapter, as I've edited it, and I'm quite certain that there will be even more major editing required for the later chapters, so the story will very likely grow past 200k words...

Several reviewers have asked about Dumbledore, and whether he is going to be a manipulative old codger or a grandfatherly mentor for Harry and his friends, and all I can really say to that is, you'll see. He is not going to be limited to just one role, though, and he will express characteristics of different kinds.

And thanks once again for all the reviews. It has been really interesting to read your speculations about where the story is going to, and I'm very glad that it doesn't seem to be as obvious as I was afraid it was, although there are going to be some surprises, even big ones, along the way. And some of your ideas have been so interesting that I _almost_ wish I had written the story like them.

But, without further ado, here it is:

* * *

**Harry Potter and the White Phoenix**

**Chapter 7 – New Things to Learn**

The next morning Harry woke up abruptly to someone nudging him, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Sirius in the dim light of the early morning. He could still feel a slight ache all around his body as a leftover from the Cruciatus Curse, but it was just slightly uncomfortable, and besides that he was feeling quite well.

"Good morning, Harry," Sirius said softly to him.

"Morning, Sirius," Harry responded sleepily, but then he perked up. "Is something the matter?" he asked quickly, sitting up on the hospital bed.

"No, no, everything's fine," Sirius replied soothingly. "I just decided to wake you up before I go," he added.

"Oh. So, you're going already?" Harry asked, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice, but not quite managing in it.

"Yeah, as unfortunate as it is, I can't stay in one place for too long, especially as there are too many people here in the castle, so it's just not safe for me to stay here," Sirius replied and Harry could see that Sirius was really sorry for it. "And I really want to help Dumbledore with the threat of Voldemort again. My Animagus form can be of use in many ways," he added, smiling sadly to some old memory.

"Oh," Harry said, not really knowing what to say about that. He had wished that Sirius would have stayed for at least a few days, but deep inside he had known that Sirius would probably leave soon. "When do you think we'll see again?" he asked then, saying aloud what he was thinking, and he felt slightly foolish about the question, but Sirius just smiled at him.

"I'm not exactly sure, but you can count on me coming to visit you this summer, if you're going to stay in Hogwarts. Perhaps I could even stay for a day or few, with the castle being mostly empty then," Sirius replied hopefully.

There was a short silence, as Harry thought about it, and he could barely wait for the summer; he wouldn't have to spend it with the Dursleys, and he would also get to be with Sirius for some days. He was brought out of his thoughts when Sirius hugged him briefly.

"Take care, Harry, and try to stay out of the trouble. But remember to have some fun too; play pranks, get a girlfriend, or whatever catches your fancy," Sirius said, smiling mischievously, and Harry blushed at the mention of a girlfriend – it immediately reminded him of some certain cute, bushy-haired girl.

"And don't hesitate to write me, if you have something to tell me," Sirius added more seriously.

"I won't," Harry replied automatically.

"Good bye, Harry, see you in the summer," Sirius said and smiled again.

"See you, Sirius," Harry replied sadly, and Sirius waved at him, before turning away and walking out of the Hospital Wing, but not before he turned into his Animagus form at the door.

Harry was left alone in the Hospital Wing, feeling sad that Sirius had to go so soon, but he was also feeling hopeful and happy about Sirius being able to stay with him for some days in the summer. Sirius' remark about girlfriend had reminded Harry of Hermione, and he suddenly realized that he could have asked Sirius about it. He was quite sure that Sirius would have been willing to help him with the matter, and perhaps Sirius would have known what to do about his crush on his best friend. But now Sirius was gone once again, and he had to resign to waiting until he saw him again, since he didn't consider a crush to be an important enough thing to risk writing a letter about, even if it was a crush on a very special person.

Harry's musings were cut short when Madam Pomfrey came to check him, and, as there was nothing wrong with him anymore, she gave him the permission to leave the Hospital Wing. Harry had just changed to the school uniform, and he was thinking about whether he should wait for Hermione there, or if he should go up to the Gryffindor Tower, but then the issue was resolved by Hermione entering the Hospital Wing. And with her was none other than Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Harry. I see you're awake already. I hope you're feeling well?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly, and Harry saw Hermione looking at him concernedly too.

"Yes, I am, professor," Harry replied to Dumbledore, but then he turned to look at Hermione and he gave her a reassuring smile.

"I was just telling Miss Granger how it will most likely take a week or two for Professor Moody to recover from the unfortunate attack of Doxies," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Doxies?" Harry asked a bit surprised and flummoxed, and his eyes found Hermione again, this time with a questioning look, but she just gave a tiny shrug as a response, and Harry turned back to the headmaster.

"Yes, it was unfortunate that you were attacked by a swarm of them in the forest, especially as you missed seeing the Acromantula that the professor had found and wanted to show you, the top student of the class," Dumbledore explained merrily.

"Oh," Harry said when he finally realized what Dumbledore was talking about – it was the cover story for him and Professor Moody being in the Hospital Wing. He didn't actually think that what Dumbledore had come up with was a very good cover story, as it seemed quite unlikely to happen, but he decided not to voice his opinion to the headmaster, thinking that Dumbledore probably knew better.

"Yesterday, we didn't agree on the story we're going to tell the others about what happened yesterday, so I came up with something that would explain yours and Professor Moody's stay in the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore told him more seriously.

"Yeah, I think that makes sense, Professor," Harry agreed, despite not being really sure about the story. Thinking about Professor Moody made him glance around the Hospital Wing, and he saw that Professor Moody wasn't there anymore, and he thought that Moody was probably back to his own quarters.

As he thought about it more, he was actually very glad that everyone didn't have to know the real story and about something extraordinary happening to him once again. But despite very few actually knowing about what had really happened, he couldn't help feeling that the story would somehow find its way to the other students, as usually happened in Hogwarts, and he was afraid that he would find himself at the centre of everyone's attention once again. Even though he didn't want everyone to know about the real events of the day before, Harry couldn't help feeling that they should at least try to warn people about Voldemort being back.

"It was fortunate that I happened to meet Miss Granger on her way here, since I have something to discuss you about your, well, extra curricular activities, shall I say," Dumbledore changed the subject, smiling amusedly. "But first I would like to know if you have anything to ask about yesterday or anything considering it?" he then asked more seriously.

Now that Harry was reminded about it, there was actually one thing that had puzzled him, and he thought that now was as good time to ask it as any. "Well, sir, there is something," he said, slightly uncertainly.

"Well, I'm all ears, as they say," Dumbledore replied jovially.

"I've just been thinking that now I can, kind of, understand why Voldemort is so intent on... getting rid of me, but why did he originally attack me – us?" Harry asked, quickly correcting himself at the end. He had never really known his parents, and sometimes it felt to him like they had never existed, but then he was always reminded of them by the brief but deep bang of pain he felt for never having the change of knowing them.

Dumbledore sighed sadly, before replying. "That is not something I like to remember about too much, but I guess you have the right to know it," he said, with a far away, reminiscing look.

"As you might know, if you have read it in history, during the first war Voldemort managed to get some of his Death Eater spies inside the Ministry, and they managed to cause a lot of discord there. Later, when some of them were discovered, it understandably caused even more suspicion, tension, doubt, and even fear among the remaining Ministry personnel, and as a result the Ministry was largely in a disarray towards the end of the war. The Aurors were understandably greatly affected by the Ministry's state, and very few Death Eaters were actually captured by them. And then there was also the fact that everyone that openly opposed Voldemort was soon attacked by the Death Eaters, and all in all the Magical populace of Britain was slowly but steadily succumbing under the fear of Voldemort," Dumbledore told, and he sighed before continuing.

"As a result of that, an underground organization was formed by me and many others to work against Voldemort from behind the scenes. Your parents and Sirius were both in that organization, among many other brave witches and wizards of the time, including some of the most experienced and skilled Aurors, so it was a formidable strength against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Especially as the organization was kept strictly secret to hide it from Voldemort, and the meetings where held in safe and hidden locations to stop Voldemort from gaining information about the members," Dumbledore told quite normally, but then his eyes started burning slightly with anger and a slight edge appeared in his voice – something that seemed totally out of place on the features of the usually calm and merry headmaster.

"But we were betrayed to Voldemort by someone who was most likely a member of the organization himself, and as a result Voldemort launched several attacks towards the most prominent of our members, like your parents. Many of us were saved by the fact that we had largely located to our own, secret safe houses, and didn't have any public place of residence, but some of the members that still lived with their families died on the attacks, and it could have actually been a great moment of triumph for Voldemort had he not been stopped by you," Dumbledore said, and his anger deflated as he looked at Harry gratefully.

"Originally I thought that it had been Sirius that had betrayed the Order, as unlikely as it seemed even then, but now it seems more likely that it was Peter Pettigrew instead," Dumbledore continued. "Or it could have very well been more than one person – there were certainly betrayals on both sides during the war," he added and lapsed to a heavy, almost tangible silence.

Harry had already known that it was Peter Pettigrew that had betrayed his parents, but he didn't know that other people had died as a result of it too. For a moment he could feel his anger welling at the lousy rat, but soon it was replaced by the usual sadness, whenever he was reminded of his parents, and this time the pain cut him deep.

"Professor? There is something I'd like to know too, if you don't mind me asking?" Hermione asked in a soft voice, breaking through Harry's thoughts – something he was actually glad for.

"Of course not," Dumbledore replied, and despite his demeanour that seemed to be back to his normal cheeriness, Harry could tell that the memories still weighed on Dumbledore heavily, but the only thing it was visible in was the lack of the usual twinkle in the headmaster's eyes.

"Well, I have sometimes wondered why Harry survived the Killing Curse?" Hermione asked, looking apologetically at Harry, but he just shrugged it off to imply that it was okay, and she continued. "I mean, there must have been others that have sacrificed themselves for someone else, when threatened by a Killing Curse, but no one has ever survived the curse before," she clarified her question.

"No, that indeed wasn't the only thing at play, but I – nor anyone else, I think – knows of why it really happened," Dumbledore replied. "The Killing Curse is borne out of hatred, a very powerful emotion, and as such the curse itself is incredibly powerful, and next to impossible to block or counter, as you already know. But there is one emotion that is even stronger than hate," Dumbledore told and looked at Harry and Hermione questioningly.

"Love?" Hermione suggested a bit uncertainly.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said with a smile, but then he sobered. "There _have _been others who have willingly sacrificed themselves, when someone they loved was threatened by the curse, and it is a known fact, even though it is extremely rare to happen, that when the sacrifice is out of selfless and pure love – such as that of a parent's for a child – it _can_ overcome the Killing Curse. So, technically the curse can be blocked, but as love and hatred are opposite emotions, the result of that kind of a sacrifice is often worse than the Killing Curse itself, and that's why it's considered an impossible spell to block," Dumbledore told severely, and after a second of thinking, Hermione winced at the thought.

Harry was looking puzzled, so Dumbledore explained it further. "When two opposing magical forces are put against each other, and they are nearly equal in strength, all of the magical power is often released as an energy blast, like you might have seen happen sometime when spells collide with each other – they sometimes create a small explosion. But for a Killing Curse and magic initiated by a selfless sacrifice out of love, that kind of an energy blast would be enough to kill everyone in the vicinity of the curse, just as happened when Voldemort attacked you; the house you and your parents lived in was in shambles when we got there, but despite that you somehow survived through it all," he told and looked at Harry softly.

There was a short silence, before Harry spoke. "But I was still saved by my mother's sacrifice?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, that's what saved you from the Killing Curse, even if there was something else that saved you from the resulting explosion of magic," Dumbledore replied sympathetically.

There was another moment of silence, as Harry took it all in, but it wasn't something he felt like dwelling on at the moment, so he decided that he wanted something else to think about. "Sir, what was the thing you wanted to talk us about?" he asked, remembering Dumbledore's earlier words.

"Ah, yes. I have something that might help you with your efforts to learn wandless magic, and perhaps some other things about magic too," Dumbledore started. "Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to give you an access to these books, so you need to keep them a secret, even if I have gone to some measures to protect anyone else from reading them," he continued, and he took what looked like three minuscule books from inside his robes and handed them to Harry and Hermione.

"Merlin's Journals of Magic!" Hermione squeaked surprised, when she squinted her eyes and read the title of the tiny book in her hands.

"Yes, and they are complete and unabridged, and you'll find that the Animagus transformation is not the only thing censored by the Ministry from the public editions, that you might have seen before," Dumbledore said in a somewhat serious tone.

"Besides making them a bit easier to carry, I used some magic to make them appear as _The Complete History of Magic in Britain_ for anyone except you two," Dumbledore continued, and Hermione shuddered briefly when she heard the title – something that amused Dumbledore and puzzled Harry. "But you should still be careful about discussing the books, since the spells can be quite easily broken if someone knows of their existence," Dumbledore added more seriously.

Hermione was still looking too shocked to speak, so it was Harry who answered. "We will keep them safe, and talk about them only in private, professor," he said, and he put the tiny book he had in his hand carefully inside his robe pocket, which prompted Hermione to do the same to the two books she was holding.

"Yes, I believe you know that some parts of the castle are all but abandoned," Dumbledore said and now his eyes were twinkling merrily again. "But you should remember that even the walls can have ears, sometimes quite literally," he added more seriously.

"I'm sure you are aware that there are some wards that can pretty much guarantee you some privacy, especially if you are feeling_ paranoid_, but sadly the books you might find them in aren't really available to everyone, and are quite _restricted_ from the access of under-age students. Although they are mostly protected through _obscurity_," Dumbledore said mysteriously, giving a slight pressure to the words "paranoid", "restricted", and "obscurity".

Dumbledore was silent for a second, but then he spoke again in his usual light-hearted manner. "Now, unless you have something else to ask me, I have to be on my way. There are plenty of responsibilities for the headmaster, and even more for those who don't mind taking some extra, I'm afraid," Dumbledore said, and Harry and Hermione looked at each other, before shaking their heads slightly.

"Well, have a good day then, Miss Granger and Harry," Dumbledore wished them.

"You too, Professor," Harry and Hermione chorused, and Dumbledore turned and left the Hospital Wing.

When Dumbledore was gone, Harry turned to look at Hermione, and he saw that she was still looking surprised. She shook her head a bit before speaking.

"I just can't believe him," she said disbelievingly.

"What?" Harry asked, not knowing what Dumbledore had meant with his mysterious talk.

"It's simple, Harry. Where do you go for books that are _restricted_?" she asked him, pressuring the last word very much like Dumbledore had done.

The clue was a bit too obvious, and Harry didn't get it immediately. "The Restricted Section of the library!" he then said suddenly, when he realized it.

"Exactly! And how are the books protected?" she asked him further.

"Uhm, I don't know?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oh, well, you probably haven't got books from the Restricted Section... legitimately," she said thoughtfully, but added the last with a smile. "But anyway; as you know, the books are protected by Charms to prevent anyone from taking them without permission. But what you might not know, is that the Charms can be disabled by a password, and that's why Madam Pince always gets the books for you, when you have a permission for some book from the Restricted Section – that way she can say the password out of anyone's earshot," she told him.

"So, 'obscurity' is the password for some book? But do you know which one?" Harry asked her interestedly.

"Yes, I think I do," she replied thoughtfully. "I think the word 'paranoid' was a clue for that, and it is a quite well known book – I think it was actually mentioned in one of our textbooks," she mused.

There was a short silence, but then Harry remembered what Dumbledore had talked about earlier. "Doxies?" he asked Hermione with a surprised and a slightly amused look.

It took Hermione a second to realize what he was talking about, before she answered him. "Oh, yeah, Doxies," she said and rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess it is plausible, and has happened before, but still... I think he could have come up with something better," she told him in just slightly exasperated tone.

"But Doxy venom isn't really that dangerous, is it?" Harry asked her, looking puzzled.

"Oh, Harry, you've never heard of those people that have been attacked by a nest of bees, have you?" she asked him in return.

"Oh," he said surprised. "Yeah, I have, but I didn't really think of that," he replied to her.

"Yes, and Doxy venom is much more potent than that of a bee sting, so you wouldn't even need that many bites," she told him.

"But Doxies don't swarm, do they?" he asked her in return with eyebrows furrowed questioningly.

"No, they don't usually, but it's not unheard of, and people have actually _died_ of Doxy venom, so..." she replied, trailing of meaningfully with a slight shrug.

There was another short silence, but then Hermione's features softened to a sympathetic expression. "How are you really feeling, Harry?" she asked him with obvious concern.

"Oh, I'm okay. Just slightly achy, but otherwise I'm fine," he replied, and smiled at her, wanting to ease her concerns. She just looked at him expectantly in return, and he knew that she was asking about more than just his physical condition. He sighed slightly, because he had actually avoided thinking about that, and he wasn't exactly sure what he felt about it all.

"I don't know really," he answered her truthfully in a tired tone. "I guess I feel relieved that the whole Goblet thing got resolved, but I'm also... I don't know, a bit tired, I guess, that things like this keep happening to me every year, it seems," he told her with a hint of bitterness making its way to his voice.

She looked slightly uncertain for a moment, but then she hugged him softly. "It will get better, Harry. Maybe not right away, but someday it will," she whispered to him encouragingly, and she held him tighter for a moment, before releasing him, and when she did, she was just slightly flushed.

"Yeah, I guess it will," Harry replied and there was a hint of pink on his cheeks too. He had been a bit surprised about the hug, but it had felt really good nonetheless, and he was afraid that he had enjoyed it a bit too much. The hug also reminded him of his feelings towards her once again – not that he really needed a reminder, since the feelings, and the thoughts associated with them, kept occupying his mind almost constantly when he was in her presence.

They were silent for a moment, but then she perked up. "Come on, Harry, we need to hurry, if we want to have time for breakfast before classes," she said eagerly, and although he didn't think that there was any rush – there was still plenty of time before the classes started – he still decided that it was a good idea, because he was feeling rather hungry, and wanted to have time for a decent breakfast.

He felt slightly reluctant to face the rest of the school, though, as he always did when something out of the ordinary had happened to him, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, so he just sighed a bit again, and followed Hermione out of the Hospital Wing.

"You know, if we want to study the Animagus transformation, we won't need to get the books from Sirius anymore, as the transformation should be described in enough detail in the journals of Merlin," Hermione whispered to him urgently, as they walked towards the Great Hall.

"Oh, that's right," Harry replied. He hadn't actually remembered the whole thing until now, and now he realised that this morning would have been a perfect opportunity to ask Sirius about the books, with no one else but them in the Hospital Wing. But fortunately that wasn't needed anymore as they had the journals.

"So, how are we going to get the book Dumbledore told about?" he asked her quietly.

"Well, shouldn't be too difficult with the password, should it? We'll just use your invisibility cloak to get to the Restricted Section unnoticed, say the password, get the book and walk out with it," she replied.

"Yeah, I guess," Harry replied non-committally. He was quite sure that it just had to be a bit more difficult than that.

They lapsed to a silence again as they continued walking, and Harry noticed a somewhat worried expression settle on Hermione's face, and that reminded him of how she had been a bit reserved and even worried the last night when Sirius had joked about using wandless magic to prank Snape, and he could actually guess what was bothering her.

"Hermione, you know I wouldn't do anything like that, don't you?" he asked her quietly. At her puzzled look, he realized that his question hadn't made much sense, so he clarified it. "I mean, prank someone and risk exposing my _talent_," he said, putting a slight pressure on the last word, although he knew that she would be able to gather what he meant even without it.

"Oh," she replied when she understood him. "Of course not! I know you wouldn't take such a risk for a silly prank, but that wasn't what I was really worried about," she answered, ending in a bit hesitant tone, and she didn't seem very eager to talk about it.

"So... what was it then?" he asked her, slightly uncertainly – he wasn't very used to asking people about their problems, but he felt like he wanted to help Hermione, if whatever was troubling her was something that he could her help with.

"It's just that," she started, but kept a short pause to think, and she sighed heavily. "Well, Voldemort seems to have always had a bit of a fixation on you, but now, after what happened yesterday, and what we heard from Dumbledore, it just seems that that isn't going away, and he'll always be after you," she told him a bit desperately.

"I guess I'm just afraid," she then admitted with another sigh.

Seeing Harry's guilty expression, she realized that she hadn't really put that very well, and she corrected herself. "Not for myself, but I'm afraid that something is going to happen to you... that I'm going to lose you," she said in a small voice.

"Well, I've made it through before, haven't I? And now that his plan didn't work out, it's going to take him time before to come up with a new one," Harry found himself saying, although he wasn't exactly sure if he was saying it mostly for her sake, or for his own. He had thought about it briefly the day before, but now that Hermione brought it up again, it somehow felt more tangible and real. He wasn't exactly scared about the whole thing – he had faced Voldemort before and lived – but rather he was really tired and sick of the fact that Voldemort would be after him until someone got rid of him. And everyday it seemed more and more likely that that someone would have to be him.

"Yeah, I guess so," Hermione sighed non-committally as a reply.

They had slowed their walking as they talked, but now they picked up their speed again, and they continued walking in silence, both lost in their own thoughts, and quite soon they reached the entrance to the Great Hall. Harry hesitated a bit at the doors, as he was used to being at the centre of attention, whenever something had happened to him, and despite no one really knowing about the kidnapping, he was still expecting everyone to stare at him the moment he stepped inside. He was very glad when that didn't happen and he sighed in relief, when everyone just continued eating or talking, or whatever they were doing, as he entered the Great Hall.

Hermione had stopped too, to wait for him, and from her expression he gathered that she knew what he was thinking, and there really was no need for words between them. They continued towards the Gryffindor Table, and, not seeing Ron there, they sat down at the end of the table, so they could have a bit of space from the rest of the students. and could talk in peace without being bothered or overheard by the others.

"Hungry?" Hermione asked him with a smile, when she noticed the amount of food he was gathering on his plate.

"Yeah," he replied simply.

They both started eating in silence, until they were soon interrupted by the arrival of the morning's paper. A swarm of owls swooped inside the Great Hall, and delivered the papers for the students with a subscription. As always, Hermione was brought one too.

"I wonder what Skeeter has to say about the second task," she said mostly to herself, as she took the paper from the owl, and started skimming through it. She just quickly read the headlines on the front page, and the short summary there was of the second task, before skipping to the first inner page, where the whole article about the second task was.

"It's not written by Skeeter!" she said surprised, when she found the article, and started reading through it. "And it's even written decently with nothing exaggerated or made up," she added soon, as her eyes rapidly scanned through the article.

"Maybe she got tired of publishing lies," Harry commented with a hint of bitterness, although he didn't really think that Rita Skeeter would ever get tired of lies and gossip.

Hermione didn't reply immediately, but instead she read the rest of the article, before going back to the front page. "Ah, no, it seems that she has just found something juicier to write about," she said sarcastically when she looked through the front page more closely, and Harry noticed the article she meant immediately, because it was the headline article on the front page.

"_The Secret Heartaches of Myron Wagtail and Kirley Duke,_" the headline read, and it was indeed written by Rita Skeeter. Harry was about to read the article and see what the despicable "journalist" had come up with now, but he was spared from it when Hermione summarized the article for him.

"Ugh, it's just an article about how the lead singer and the lead guitarist of the Weird Sisters have apparently fallen for the same girl, and that girl has allegedly fooled around with both of them," she said with contempt.

"Makes you wonder how much of it is really true and how much made up by Skeeter, doesn't it?" she asked, turning from the article to look at him.

"Yeah, it does," Harry replied tiredly, feeling quite fed up with Rita Skeeter already.

"But at least she seems to have left Hogwarts and isn't here to bother us," she replied to him encouragingly, picking up on his tone.

"Yeah, that's true," he agreed with her, brightening a bit, when he realized that she was right; Skeeter seemed to have left them alone, at least for now.

"So, what happened in the second task, and what did the champions have to do?" Harry asked her then, not just to change the topic, but also because he realized that he still didn't know who had won the second task and he was really curious about it.

"Oh, that's right, you missed it," Hermione mused and she put the paper down on the table. "The champions basically had to get something they would 'most sorely miss' from the bottom of the lake, using some form of magic to survive under the water," she told him.

"Really? So what was it that they had to rescue?" Harry asked interestedly.

"Not what, but _who_," she replied, keeping a short pause, waiting for Harry's surprised expression before continuing. "They had put the person that each of the champions would most sorely miss under an enchanted sleep spell, so they wouldn't drown under the water, and the champions had to save that person from the merpeople that were holding them as 'hostages' at the bottom of the lake," she told him enthusiastically.

"Viktor Krum had to save his brother, Fleur Delacour her little sister, and Cedric," she continued, but then she kept a small pause. "He had to save _Cho Chang_," she finished, pressuring Cho's name just slightly.

Harry didn't understand what she meant by it immediately, but then he realized that Hermione must have noticed his crush on Cho Chang earlier that year. He actually felt a bit weird about it, because it was _Hermione_ that he now had a crush on, and he couldn't help blushing a bit at that thought, and he had to turn away from her. But then he realized that he might be giving the impression that he still had a crush on Cho, so he decided to act as indifferent about it as possible – or actually he didn't even need to act, since he_ was_ indifferent about the Cedric and Cho thing.

"Oh, really? So what happened?" he asked her, brushing off what she had said.

She seemed to be slightly surprised about that, and she just looked at him curiously for a second before answering. "Well, Krum used human Transfiguration and tried to turn himself into a shark, but I think the spell went wrong, and he only managed to Transfigure his head, although that seemed to be enough for him to breathe under the water," she explained, obviously interested about the magic that was used in the task. "Cedric and Delacour both used a Bubble-Head Charm, but Delacour was attacked by Grindylows, and she didn't manage to save her sister, while both Cedric and Krum succeeded in the task, with Cedric being a bit faster," she recounted the event.

"So what happened to her? To Delacour's sister, I mean?" Harry asked concernedly.

Hermione looked at him like he was being silly. "Harry, you don't really think they would have endangered the lives of the people in the bottom of the lake, do you?" she asked him, somewhat amused.

"Oh, I guess not," he replied, feeling a bit foolish at not thinking about that, and Hermione smiled at him fondly.

"No, she was brought up by the merpeople once the task was over," she replied, sobering, but then she turned thoughtful and continued after a short pause. "Actually, I think Delacour thought that her sister had been in real danger too, and she was in tears about not being able to save her. She was really relieved when her sister was brought up by the merpeople and turned out to be all right," she told.

"Oh," Harry replied, not really having anything to say to that. "So, that makes Cedric first, Krum second and Delacour the last at the moment?" he asked her.

"Yes, exactly," Hermione said with a nod. "So, it looks like Hogwarts has a good chance of winning," she added with a smile, and Harry was happy about Hogwarts being in the lead too.

They resumed eating their breakfast (or Harry did, as Hermione was finished already) and soon Ron joined them, just minutes before they had to leave for classes. During that time Ron managed to miraculously eat even a larger breakfast than what Harry had eaten, and Harry inwardly smiled at Hermione's disgusted expression at that.

* * *

During the day, Harry found his concentration slipping from the classes, as he was really looking forward to the evening when they would finally get the privacy spellbook from the library, and there was also something that he really wanted to talk Hermione about – something that he had thought about during the day, as he couldn't help still mulling over the things that had happened the day before.

Neither him nor Hermione ate much at the dinner, and they were among the first ones to leave the Great Hall, leaving Ron behind them to continue eating – something that had actually happened quite often lately. Hermione lead their way through a path that would make their walk to the Gryffindor Tower a bit longer, but it went through a part of the castle that wasn't used that much, as there were only rarely used classrooms there.

"I don't think it would be practical if we were both under the cloak, Harry," she whispered to him when they were alone, getting straight to the point. "We would be clumsier that way and we might bump into someone, or something like that, and I need to check out a couple of books anyway, so I think it would be better if I checked out those books, while you get the privacy spellbook," she continued.

"Okay," he agreed. "But how do I find it?" he asked her, realizing that he still didn't know anything about the book.

"I'll check the title and the author of the book – it was mentioned in one of our DADA textbooks, I think – and shouldn't have any trouble finding it. It should be among the DADA books in the Restricted Section," she told him.

"Uhm, Hermione are you sure we should get the book now? Wouldn't it be safer to do it at night, when there aren't students or even Madam Pince around?" he asked her, wondering if she hadn't thought of that.

"Well, I'd like to get the book as soon as possible, but you're right; it would probably be safer to do it at night," she said and lapsed to a thoughtful silence. She also bit her lip, which he knew to be a sure sign that she was having trouble deciding between the choices.

"I think we should be fine getting the book now, since there shouldn't be too many people there yet, if we hurry," she finally said thoughtfully. "And even if the library turns out to be crowded, we can then decide to do it later," she added and looked at him questioningly.

"Okay, let's do that," he agreed with her.

"Harry, would you mind if I kept the journals for now?" she then asked him after a brief moment of silence, and, although her voice sounded quite normal, Harry thought that there was a slight undertone in it.

"No, not at all," he replied, wondering what she had on her mind. "And I guess it would be safer that way too, since no one would think much about you having some extra books. But if someone saw them in my trunk instead, they might get a bit suspicious," he reasoned.

"Yes, that's _exactly_ what I thought too," she replied quickly – a bit _too_ quickly, he thought.

"So, you weren't by any chance thinking about starting to read them already?" he asked her, with a teasing grin, finally realizing what she was up to.

"Uhm, well, I just might be bored some day and, you know, need something to read to tide over it," she told him quite seriously and a bit haltingly, but then she smiled at him sheepishly.

Harry chuckled lightly and good-naturedly at her, and they lapsed to a comfortable and amused silence as they continued on their way towards the Gryffindor Tower. Once they were there, Hermione took the journals and went up to her dormitory to hide them, and at the same time she also checked the title of the privacy book. Meanwhile Harry fetched his invisibility cloak from his trunk, and soon the two were making their way towards the library; Harry hiding under the cloak, and Hermione having her backpack with her, so they could hide the book in it, and Harry wouldn't have to carry it around while invisible.

When they got to the library, they saw that Hermione had been right, and there were only a couple of students there, and they decided to go on with their plan. Hermione went off to get the books she wanted for herself, while Harry went straight to the Restricted Section, and he had no trouble finding the book they needed for the privacy spells. He was feeling really nervous when he said the password to the book, because they could be in serious trouble if they were caught (although he did think that Dumbledore would most likely step in and help them at least somewhat), and he felt even more nervous about picking the book up. Slowly he reached to the book and he let his hands rest on it for a second, before taking it, and he breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.

Feeling much more at ease now, he crept out of the library carefully, not wanting to bump into anyone by accident. Seeing that Hermione was just checking out some books for herself, he continued on his way out and settled to waiting just outside of the library. When she came out and passed him, he tapped her lightly on the shoulder to get her attention, because there were some other students entering the library near them, and he didn't want to risk them hearing his voice. She was startled at first, but then she realized that it was Harry, and she stepped aside to wait for the students to pass.

"Follow me," she then whispered to him, and started leading them away from the library.

She stopped at the first classroom they encountered, and, making sure that no one could see them, she opened the door, peeked inside to make sure that it was unoccupied, and she went inside, holding the door open for Harry to follow behind her.

"That was easier than I expected," Harry commented, as he took off the invisibility cloak and hid it inside one of his robe pockets.

"Let me see," Hermione replied eagerly and she took the book from him. She opened it and started looking for something, but then she thought better of it, and she took off her backpack and put the book in there, hiding it among the books she had checked out for herself, and Harry noticed that at least one of those books was about Merlin.

"Better keep it hidden until we're somewhere more safe," she explained to him.

"Yeah," he agreed with her. "So, you're reading about Merlin?" he asked her curiously.

"Well, I know that there probably isn't anything about the White Phoenix and the Black Serpent in normal history books, but it can't hurt to look, can it?" she replied with a shrug.

"I guess not," he replied, but then he furrowed his eyebrows, thinking that there was something he was supposed to remember.

"Oh, what about the muggle book you mentioned yesterday? The one that called Morgan le Fay 'Black serpent'?" he asked her when he suddenly remembered what she had said the day before.

"No, it didn't really have any information about the real Black Serpent, either," she said and shook her head sadly. "I don't remember the exact wording, but it just said that a long before her fight with Merlin, Morgan le Fay had caused trouble under the name and form of 'Black Serpent'. That's all there was in the book about it," she continued. "But just in case I've forgotten something, I'll check the book this summer, as I have it at home," she added as an afterthought.

"Oh, okay," he replied, sounding a tiny bit disappointed.

"So, let's go then?" he then asked, cheering up a bit, as he remembered that they had something to do. They left the classroom and started on their way towards the storeroom they used for practising. They were silent for a while as they walked, but once they were out of the commonly used parts of the castle, and were to themselves, Harry broke the silence.

"There was something I wanted to talk you about, actually," he started, slightly uncertainly, because he didn't know what she would think of his idea.

"Yeah?" she prompted and turned to look at him.

"Well, I thought that it might be best if I started practising more spells that might help me if I, well, ended up in another nasty situation. You know, stuff for duelling and such," he said, doing his best to keep cheerful despite the seriousness of the matter.

"Ooh, that's a really good idea," Hermione replied interestedly. "There are plenty of books about duelling and magical combats in the library and we could use those to find some useful spells and strategies and everything," she continued enthusiastically, but then her demeanour changed and she took on a slightly sad expression, as she, no doubt, remembered what he needed to be prepared for.

"Yeah, and I really need to learn the counter spells to things like the binding spell that Wormtail used on me," he answered her blandly.

"_Incarcerous_?" she suggested and her tone was somewhat lifeless too.

"Might have been, I didn't really hear the incantation," he replied with a shrug.

A rather heavy silence descended between them, but they soon reached the storeroom, and when they got inside, Hermione was back to looking really enthusiastic, as she got the _Privacy Spells for the Paranoid_ book out of her backpack. Then she took her wand and cast two spells, one at the door, and another around the whole room. Harry recognized the first spell – it was the locking spell, "Colloportus" – but he didn't know the second one.

"A basic Locking Charm, and a simple Sound Muffling Charm," she answered when she noticed his questioning look. "They'll stop anyone from entering the room by chance, and they'll also stop anyone from eavesdropping on us, as long as they don't know any spying magic," she added, and Harry nodded as a reply.

She turned her attention to the book, and Harry just watched her, as she quickly leafed through the pages of the book, using the index at the back of the book a few times. He had actually observed her like that a few times, and he couldn't help being amazed at her zeal at things like that, and the way she could in a matter of seconds concentrate herself so completely on something. Unnoticed by himself, he started smiling at her, as he continued looking at her flipping through the book at an almost superhuman pace.

"Hmm, I think we need to learn Anti-Scrying Ward, Anti-Eavesdropping Ward and a better locking charm to be safe," she finally mused aloud.

"Scrying?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't mean the Divination kind of scrying, like gazing at a crystal ball and such, but Scrying Magic that can be used to spy on people," she told him. "There are spells that can," she continued, but trailed off as she had to stop to think about it.

"Oh, you know about muggle surveillance cameras and such, of course!" she then said suddenly. "There are spells that work similar to those, and can be used to survey people from distance, although they are very advanced magic, and I think they're only taught to Aurors," she explained eagerly.

"Oh, okay," he replied, understanding her now, and she turned her attention back to the book.

"Imperturbable Charm would have been really good too, but it's a really difficult charm, and it would be too noticeable if someone walked near the door – and I guess we don't really need it anyway, if we just use those three others," she mused mostly to herself, as she continued flipping through the book, and then she nodded in satisfaction, before turning to him again.

"So we need to learn three spells?" he commented.

"Yes, but we don't both have to be able to do them all, do we? I could take two of them, and you'd take the last one?" she suggested.

"Sure, if that's okay with you. You'll probably learn them faster than I do, anyway," he agreed with her.

"Well, I don't know," she said a bit hesitantly. "There's a more powerful locking charm in this book that shouldn't be too difficult to learn, but we haven't really had any wards in our classes yet, and actually we won't have those until the seventh year. They're somewhat more difficult than regular spells and even more so as we don't have any experience in them," she told him.

"Let's both take one of the wards and then whoever learns it first takes the Advanced Locking Charm?" she suggested after thinking about it for a second.

"Okay," Harry agreed, and they started studying the spells immediately.

* * *

Once again it turned out that Hermione was right; casting wards was really difficult. They were both very eager to learn them, though, and that eagerness carried them through the weekend and most of the next week, as they spent pretty much every moment they had available on learning the wards, and what little time they had left after that and doing their usual homework, they spent on wandless magic and combating spells. For that purpose they had checked the library for books about duelling and magical combats, and it hadn't taken them long to come up with a list of spells that would keep them busy for a long time.

Besides being very intent on learning the privacy spells, Hermione also seemed to be really excited about something, and Harry was quite sure that she had found something interesting in the journals, as he was almost certain that she had already started reading them. She didn't seem to be willing to risk talking about it before they learned the wards, though.

With Professor Moody still needing time to recover, their DADA classes had been substituted by random teachers; meaning whoever didn't happen to have classes at the time. Harry was slightly anxious about what the other students would think about the "accident", but fortunately no one seemed to think too much about it. Professor McGonagall, who had been their first substitute teacher in DADA, had told the class that Professor Moody had been involved in an accident with a student, when he had wanted to show that student an Acromantula he had found in the forest.

It turned out that Dumbledore had guessed correctly, and some students had seen Harry go to the forest with Professor Moody, and the rumour quickly spread, but fortunately nothing much came out of it, unless you counted a rather lame remark from Malfoy ("Doxies, Potter? Could you be any more pathetic?").

* * *

By the next Saturday, Harry and Hermione had made a lot of progress in the privacy spells, and Hermione had actually managed to successfully cast the Anti-Scrying Ward she was studying a couple of times, and Harry too was quite close to getting a hang of the Anti-Eavesdropping Ward, but despite that, Harry's enthusiasm had started to abate some time ago, and he was starting to feel tired about all the studying. He felt like he really needed some time off, and it was at the breakfast of that Saturday morning that he brought it up with Hermione – he had noticed that she too seemed to be a bit tired, and they had both actually slept later that day than they usually did.

"So, did you have any plans for today, Hermione?" he asked her as they were both still eating.

She turned to look at him in surprise, but then she looked around to see that no one was too close to overhear them before answering. "I thought we'd study the wards?" she asked him in a whisper. "And do the rest of our homework of course," she added.

"Hermione, we've been doing that all the week!" Harry replied with a slight groan. "I think we could both do with some time off," he added.

"But Harry, this is really important!" she argued back insistently.

"I know that, but aren't you getting tired? I know I am, and I'm sure I could concentrate much better if I could just push it all out of my head for a while and relax," he reasoned, knowing that she was right about her point, but also knowing that he wouldn't be able to concentrate very well, if he was too tired.

She seemed to relent just a bit, but still seemed opposed to the idea. "But Harry, we're really close! I think we'd need just a couple of days, and then we could have some time off, _after_ we've learned the spells," she said quietly but urgently to him. "There are a few things I really want to talk with you, something I read from the journals," she added, whispering the last part very quietly, and it confirmed Harry's suspicion about her having read at least some of the journals already.

Harry smiled inwardly at her zeal for reading, but then he sobered mentally, deciding to use the last trick he had to convince him. "Oh, come on, Hermione. I promise I'll study hard tomorrow and the next week, if we'll just take some time off today. And besides, I'll be able to concentrate so much better when I'm not so tired," he pleaded her. "We could even go flying – the weather seems finally warm enough to do that comfortably," he added, when he looked out of the windows and saw that the sun was shining from cloudless sky.

He smiled inwardly again, but kept his expression neutral, when he saw her expression softening, as she relented under his pleas. "Well, all right, I have to admit that you have been working very hard and I guess we could have today off – or at least some of it – but we'll study hard tomorrow then," she said, finishing in a firm tone. "And I'd really like to go flying with you, anyway," she added as an afterthought in a softer tone, staring dreamily through the window.

He wasn't exactly sure if she meant it like that, but his heart soared at the _"with you"_, and he couldn't help smiling happily. Besides that he also felt a bit surprised about her actually liking flying, since she had used to dislike it so much, but he was also glad for it – he didn't really mind her being so much into studying, but he thought that even Hermione Granger needed to take some time off studying every now and then, and he thought that flying was just the perfect way to do that. And, of course, he really appreciated the chance of doing something fun together with her.

"Look, we could get started on our homework right now, and then go flying a bit later, when it warms up some more?" he suggested her, knowing that the mornings were still quite cold.

"All right," she agreed and smiled pleasantly.

Despite not being totally convinced that it was the best thing to do, Hermione seemed to quickly forget everything else when they got to the Quidditch pitch, and got up in the air. She never once mentioned studying or the journals as they flew, despite them actually spending a few hours at it, and he made good of his promise by studying very diligently for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

"_Colloportus Aeternum!_" Hermione said firmly and did the intricate corkscrew-like motion of the spell towards the door with her wand. The door clicked shut and Hermione looked slightly surprised.

The two had continued practising the privacy spells for most of the next week too, and Hermione had quickly got a hang of the Anti-Scrying Ward, and she had continued with the Advanced Locking Charm, while Harry still struggled with the Anti-Eavesdropping Ward. Until just a day earlier he had finally managed to cast the ward successfully, and then they only had to wait for Hermione to learn the Advanced Locking Charm to be able to discuss the journals safely.

"Did it work?" Harry asked her.

"Alohomora!" she cast the Unlocking Charm on the door, but nothing happened. "Alohomora!" she tried again, this time more insistently, but again nothing happened.

"It worked Harry! We can finally talk about the journals and start learning the things in them!" she exclaimed brightly. "You know, I had already read the public edition of the journals, and as I can still remember most of what they contained, I could quite easily see which parts of them had been censored by the Ministry, and Dumbledore was indeed right; the Animagus transformation wasn't the only thing that had been removed! There was also a section about wandless magic, although I don't see any reason why they would censor that out of the public edition, but anyway –" she rambled rapidly, but was cut off by Harry.

He couldn't help chuckling slightly at her fervour. "Slow down, Hermione. I'm not getting half of what you're saying," he interrupted her with a smile.

"Oh, sorry," she said and seemed slightly abashed.

"It's all right," he said and smiled at her fondly. "So, did I get it right that you've read the journals already? And there was something about wandless magic in there?" he asked her.

She nodded eagerly. "Yes, I have. _Merlin's Journals of Magic_ is still a huge classic in the Wizarding World, and I actually read them in our first year already – or the public edition of them, anyway. So, now I just had to compare the books that Dumbledore gave us to what I remembered about them, and I think there are only two larger parts that have been removed from the public editions; one about the Animagus transformation, and another one about wandless magic," she told him enthusiastically, but this time speaking a bit slower, so that he could understand him.

"Really? Do you think we'll need it?" he asked somewhat sceptically, since Dumbledore had already been quite astonished at how quickly they had learned wandless magic.

"Well, we don't need most of it, of course, as we can already do some wandless magic, but there are some tricks that should help us to learn new spells wandlessly a bit faster. But most importantly there is a trick that should help us concentrate on wandless magic _almost instantly_, so we could use it about as effortlessly as normal magic!" she said emphatically.

"Oh, really? Is it difficult?" he asked, now really interested. Besides being quite limited in the spells they could do without their wands, they were also a bit hindered by the fact that they always needed about a minute to fully concentrate themselves on the wandless magic, before they could manage even a simple spell wandlessly.

She shook her head slightly. "No, it isn't really difficult, but it's going to take a lot of time," she told him, before lapsing to a short thoughtful silence. "You know what meditation is?" she then asked him.

"Uhm, well, isn't it something like sitting still and trying not to think about anything?" he replied a bit uncertainly, not really sure about it, and not knowing where she was going with the question.

"Something like that, yes," she replied, nodding. "It basically means concentrating on something, or just trying to clear your mind of all emotions and thoughts, and there are many different reasons why it is done. And yes, it is usually done while sitting but there are also other postures that are used," she told him.

"But anyway, the way we can learn to focus faster on wandless magic is something similar to meditation – or actually I think it _is_ a form of meditation. Basically we just need to do meditation exercises on which we concentrate on wandless magic, and especially the feeling we get when we're focused on it or when we are doing it, and then, with enough practise, we should learn to go to that state of mind almost instantly!" she told him very eagerly.

"Uhm, just exactly how much is 'enough practise'?" he asked her in return, a bit uncertainly, since their schedules were already quite full with everything they were doing.

"Well, the book wasn't really specific about that, but I think the more we do it, the faster we should learn to focus ourselves," she told him.

"Okay," he replied thoughtfully. It seemed like a really useful thing, although the idea of meditation did feel a bit weird to him. "Oh, what about the Animagus transformation?" he then asked, suddenly remembering the other thing she had mentioned finding in the books.

"Oh, I almost forgot that," she replied surprised. "Most of it is actually just another form of meditation, and the transformation isn't really even that difficult, but learning it simply takes a lot of time and patience, especially as there is no way of knowing whether you can become an Animagus or not," she told him interestedly.

"So, how long would it actually take?" Harry asked, feeling somewhat discouraged by the fact that if neither of them could become Animagi, it would be a waste of time.

"Well, Merlin tells that around a year should be enough, if you practise for it daily," she told, but quickly continued when she saw his rather horrified expression. "But, you know, even if we weren't able to become Animagi, the meditation would still be very useful in many ways, and just think about all the possibilities an Animagus form could have – if you were a bird, you could fly without a broom or anything!" she told him enthusiastically.

Harry sighed as he thought about it. Of course he knew that having an Animagus form would be great in many ways, but learning the transformation seemed to require a huge amount of effort, and the chance of him, or either of them, being able to become Animagi was very small – there was only a handful of Animagi in the whole Britain, after all.

"I think I'd like to try it," he finally said, reaching his decision, although he wasn't exactly sure what swayed his opinion towards wanting to try it.

Hermione perked up at first at hearing that, but then she turned thoughtful. "I'm not sure we should do it, though," she said, deflating a bit.

Harry just looked at her questioningly with a surprised expression at her quick change of heart.

"Well, I don't mind it being 'illegal' that much, since we're only studying, nothing more, so it's not like were doing anything really wrong, so it's just a silly law," she explained, sounding like she wanted to convince herself more than him, but then she turned her full attention to him. "But Dumbledore gave us the books for helping us with wandless magic," she said.

"Oh, yeah," Harry replied when he realized that she was right. "But don't you think that Dumbledore knew that we might try it when he gave us the books? You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he even expected that," he said after a while.

Hermione didn't seem convinced, so he continued. "Hermione, I don't know how Dumbledore's mind works of course, but I'm sure that he has considered the possibility of us using the books to learn the transformation, and I don't think he would have given us the books, if he had been really against it. Or at least he would have told us not to do it – he did mention the transformation after all, when he gave us the books," he reasoned with her, and somehow he couldn't shake off the thought that Dumbledore had actually expected them to learn the transformation.

"And, like you said before, it isn't even dangerous, is it?" he added questioningly as an afterthought.

"No, it shouldn't be dangerous at all," she replied off-handedly, as she thought about the matter. "Well, I guess you're right," she then said with a sigh.

"Dumbledore gave us the books, without really saying how we should use them, and he even gave us the information on how to learn the necessary spells to secure the room, so that no one would be able to spy on us discussing the books. So, I guess it would be okay for us to try it," she reasoned and looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah," he agreed. "So, do you think I should read the books too or do you think you can just explain it to me?" he asked her, not really knowing how difficult the whole thing would be.

"No, I think it should be fine if I just explain it, since it isn't really complicated," she told him and she took a second to organize her thoughts before she started telling him about it eagerly.

"Well, like I already told you, learning the Animagus transformation consists mostly of meditation practises – and it actually has very little to do with Transfiguration, despite what most people think! The whole process is actually about learning to empty your mind enough, so that you can learn to 'feel' your own magic – whatever that means – and when you continue that for long enough, you should be able to feel your magic willing to change the shape of your body, or something like that," she explained.

"And then you just have to learn to give into the feeling and let your magic change your body – it is actually your magic that does all the work, and it's not even possible to know your form before you manage the transformation for the first time!" she finished enthusiastically.

"Um, so what you're saying is that we'll just have to meditate until we can do the transformation? But what if we can't do it? What if we can't become Animagi?" he asked her.

"Well, the last part isn't really meditation, but it wasn't really described in very much detail in the books, so I guess we just have to start with the meditation and worry about that part later," she told him, and stopped to think about his other question. "Oh, and if we aren't able to become Animagi, then we just don't find that 'will' to be something else from our magic, but we should still be able to feel our magic with enough practise, and actually I think that might help us further in wandless magic, and even normal magic, too," she mused.

"All right. So, do we start immediately? What do we do?" he asked her.

"Well, first we should take a comfortable position, something that we can stay in for a long time, so I guess sitting down would be the best," she informed him.

It became apparent that the storeroom wasn't an ideal place for their practise, however, when they noticed that there were only uncomfortable wooden chairs or the cold, hard stone floor for them to sit on. They both realised the same thing and looked around for something more comfortable to sit on, and it was Harry that first noticed some thick carpets, lying against a wall in rolls.

"Wait a second," he said and went to get one of the carpets. It was really thick and the carpet roll weighed almost too much for him to lug it with him, but with some help from Hermione, they managed to wrestle it to the wide open space where they usually practised spells.

"There," he said as he rolled it open and they both sat, cross-legged, on the soft carpet. It was much more comfortable than the stone floor.

"So, what now?" Harry asked her.

"Now we just close our eyes and try to clear our heads from all thoughts and emotions, and concentrate on nothingness, so to speak," she said. "Merlin wasn't exactly specific about that in his notes, but I've read a muggle book about meditation, and it said that one of the easiest ways to do that is to concentrate on your own breathing – you know, think about inhaling and exhaling each time you're doing those," she continued.

"Oh, and one more thing, breathe calmly," she added after they had both already closed their eyes.

At first it felt like a very simple thing to do, but despite that Harry wasn't having much success and he started getting frustrated quite soon. It seemed that, no matter how simple it sounded, thinking about nothing was an impossible task; all kinds of thoughts kept popping up in his head, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on his breathing, and it didn't help that his feet started going numb quite soon. They had perhaps sat there for ten minutes when the frustration finally got to Harry and he opened his eyes, sighing heavily. Hermione was still sitting with her eyes closed and seemed to be having much more success than he did.

"I don't think I can do this. Everything just keeps popping up in my head," he said with a hint of frustration on his voice.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. "Don't worry, Harry, that's normal in the beginning, you just need a lot of patience to keep trying until you can do it. I can't do it either, but I just let the thoughts come and go, while I try to think about my breathing," she told him encouragingly. "Let's just try again," she added.

He sighed a bit, but did as he told and continued with the practise. The knowledge that it would take practise, and that he wasn't just bad in it, helped Harry a lot and this time he didn't get so frustrated when all kinds of thoughts started entering his mind. He just let them be there, come and go as they pleased, while he continued trying to think about nothingness.

"I think that's enough for today," Hermione finally said after they had sat there for what Harry thought was perhaps half an hour.

When he opened his eyes and looked at Hermione, he noticed that he was feeling kind of serene and that he was somehow more aware of all the details he saw everywhere; the clothes Hermione was wearing and every wrinkle and contour in them, the colour and shape of her face and eyes, almost every single hair in her head; and everything around them, from the pattern of the stone walls and floor, to the feeling of the carpet under him. He realised that he wasn't really seeing or feeling anything he hadn't observed before, but he was somehow paying more attention to every little detail in everything. The moment broke, however, when Hermione spoke again and he focused on her.

"We should do these meditation practises everyday for at least an hour, and it would actually be best to do this several times a day for shorter periods at a time," she told him.

"Uhm, several times a day?" he asked her curiously, because he didn't think they had time for that between their classes.

"Well, it would probably be best to do short meditation exercises immediately after waking up and just before going to bed, and we could also have short ones during breaks, and then a bit longer one in the evening," she told him.

"Are you sure we have time for that during breaks?" he asked her sceptically.

"Sure. We don't really need to it for a long time at once, and even few minutes between classes should help," she replied.

"Okay," he agreed with her, deciding to at least try it out. "So, let's continue with the Stunning Spell?" he then asked her, referring to the spell they were currently practising to do wandlessly.

"Yeah, let's do that," she agreed.

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up feeling quite cheerful and somehow different than what he was used to feeling lately, and he briefly wondered what it was, but then he decided to do as Hermione had suggested, and he did a short meditation exercise before anything else. He wasn't having any more success than the day before, but at least during that meditation practise he realized how he was feeling different; the feeling he had had of being supposed to do something, that had caused him to feel restless, was gone!

As he continued thinking about it, he realized that the feeling had been somewhat dulled while they had practised the privacy spells, probably because he had been so set on learning the spells that it had pushed the feeling to the background, but now it was completely gone for the moment, and he had a good guess of what had caused the change. Actually, he thought that he _knew _the reason behind the feeling, and the thing he felt like he was supposed to do; his subconscious mind, or something else, was telling him to learn the Animagus transformation.

"Hermione, I think the meditation is helping me with the strange feelings I've had. You know, the feeling of needing to do something that I had? The meditation practises really help with that!" he told Hermione excitedly that evening. His good mood has lasted throughout the whole day, and he had also been able to concentrate much better on his classes, now that the disturbing feeling of restlessness was gone.

"Really?" she asked surprised. "Is that why you've been so cheerful today?" she asked him in return.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied with a shrug. He hadn't himself noticed it, but now he realized that his good mood must have shown through in his behaviour too. "I also slept better last night than what I'm used to, and I'm not feeling the restlessness either," he told her.

"That's great, Harry!" Hermione said and she was genuinely happy for him.

Harry too smiled for a moment, but then he turned puzzled. "Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?" he asked thoughtfully.

"About what?" she asked in return.

"Well, you know, like where the feeling is coming from and such," he said thoughtfully. "Now that I think of it, the... craving I had for wandless magic, that I told you about, it's still there too, but I just don't notice it usually anymore, because we practise so often, and that always makes the feeling go away for some time," he told her.

"Really?" she replied interestedly. "Do you think the meditation is helping you with the feelings? Like helping you to push them to the back of your mind, or something like that?" she asked him.

He thought about it for a moment, but then he shook his head slightly. "No, I think it _is_ the meditation that I felt like I'm supposed to do, and still feel," he told her with eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "It's like something is telling me that the meditation – especially for the Animagus transformation – is important, just like the wandless magic," he continued, puzzled.

"I've never heard of anything like that before," she replied, clearly puzzled, and she shook her head slightly.

"Well, not much we can do about it, is there? And it's not like it is really bothering me anymore, so I guess it's okay," he told her with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, but he could tell that she was still at least somewhat bothered about the matter, and he had to admit to himself that it did trouble him a bit too, even if he mostly just wanted to forget about it.

* * *

The meditation really seemed to help Harry, and it really made classes and other schoolwork so much easier for him, because now he wasn't constantly bothered by the restlessness that stemmed from the feeling of needing to do something. As a result he got his homework done much faster, and sometimes he was actually faster than Hermione at that – not that it was such a feat since she had more classes than him, and she also usually wrote much longer essays than he did.

Professor Moody also returned to teaching them DADA the next week, and now he was looking much better than what he had looked in the Hospital Wing; he had a new artificial eye, that was just like the earlier one, and he also had a new wooden leg, although he was still looking a bit gaunt and pale. His teaching style didn't differ much from the fake Moody, and Barty Crouch junior had apparently done a very good job imposing as Moody, except for the fact that the real Moody seemed to be even more paranoid, and it actually went quite close to the point of being ridiculous at times – he quite literally expected someone to attack him at all times.

That Saturday, they went flying again and they hadn't flown for long when Ron appeared on the Quidditch Pitch, apparently having seen someone flying there.

"Harry?" Ron asked, when he came closer, and noticed Harry, who was nearer to Ron of the two fliers. "Who's that with you?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry was spared from answering when Hermione flew closer to them. She was flying Harry's Firebolt at the moment and she was flying quite fast – not nearly as fast as the Firebolt could go, but faster than the school brooms allowed.

"Hermione?" Ron asked shocked, when she was close enough for him to recognize her.

"Hi, Ron!" she said cheerfully, as she sped past the shocked Ron.

"But... Hermione can't fly!" Ron blurted.

"She's a quick study," Harry answered him with a shrug and a grin, and he flew after Hermione.

It took Ron a moment to recover from the shock, but then he too got a broom and joined them. They flew just for fun for a while, but then Ron proposed that they could get a Quaffle, and Harry and Hermione could try scoring while Ron played as a Keeper. Ron was hoping to be able to become the new Keeper for Gryffindor team the next year as Oliver Wood, the earlier Keeper, had graduated the last year.

Initially Hermione had a lot of trouble handling the Quaffle while flying, even when she flew on Harry's Firebolt, but she started getting a hold off it as time passed. The Quidditch goals were also very high in the air and Hermione didn't even want to go that high at first, but Harry and Ron managed to coax her there and she quite soon forgot the altitude. Harry wasn't a great Chaser either but together with Hermione they managed to fool Ron several times and score, though Ron did save most of their feeble attempts. But most importantly, they all had a very fun afternoon and they were in very cheery spirits when they finally finished with flying and went for an early dinner.

_To be continued..._

* * *

More notes from the author: No, I don't know whether Krum really has a brother, but I just had to come up with a hostage for him in the second task instead of Hermione...

But more importantly, I don't have any idea how long it will take me to get the next chapter done. It is a very interesting chapter for me, and I'm really itching to get to it, but I also have a lot of new ideas for it, and I might end up adding quite a few scenes to it. But I'll try to keep those who are looking forward to the next chapter updated on my progress through my forum.

And thanks for the reviews.


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